Art is an Explosion, dattebayo!
by Kedo
Summary: Naruto goes missing during the final battle in Wave Country. A fateful meeting with Iwa's bomber and two months later a brand new Naruto returns to Konoha. Slight AU, GrayNaruto, NaruHina
1. Prologue, Lost and Found

**Prologue: Lost and Found**

"Damn ninjas... You killed our meal ticket...!"

"You guys are dead!"

"Now we're gonna pillage this city. And take anything of value!"

Those cheers and yells could be heard from the gathered thugs and mercenaries in front of Team 7. The only thing between those two factions where the dead bodies of Zabuza Momochi and Haku.

Naruto's gaze shifted towards the members of his team. Sakura was supporting a battle worn Sasuke, he could easily see the fear that crept into her eyes, dreading the coming conflict. Sasuke was on his last leg, in fact it was a wonder that he was already conscious again after the beating he had received through the fight with Haku. His sensei had also seen better days, fighting off Zabuza had taken it's toll on his body. And now they should deal with roughly an additional two hundred men that wanted to plunder and kill everything?

The blond hero's fingers swiftly formed his favorite hand sign. "Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu" He poured every ounce of his remaining chakra into this last resort, ten more blond genins came into existence, ready for the battle ahead.

This also seemed to be the starting signal for the group of thugs on the other side of the bridge. The rows of men started to move, rushing towards the now eleven blond haired ninja's blocking their way. Weapons gripped in their hands the identical looking kids waited for attackers to come into their range.

The advancing mass came to an abrupt halt, as shuriken and kunai started tearing into their ranks. Many of the metal weapons vanished into smoke after they had hit their intended targets. Still the hail of metal could only continue for so long before Naruto and his clones ran out of ammunition, as soon as the raining of weapons had started it stopped and the remaining thugs resumed their attack.

Naruto's counterattack had taken out a good dozen of their adversaries and wounded another dozen of them. Now the clones and the original stood side by side forming a line, each one holding a kunai in their right hand, waiting for the incoming onslaught.

"sensei, I could use some help here, dattebayo!" Shouted an anxious Naruto.

"Sakura, protect Tazuna and Sasuke, I will help Naruto" After those words the one-eyed jonin rushed towards Naruto. His Sharingan eye was already covered by his leaf headband, no longer he had any chakra to spare to support it. Like his student he took out a kunai from one of his pouches, awaiting the incoming enemies, as he stood side by side with the ten shadow clones and Naruto.

The two sides clashed and the advancing thugs were once again stopped in their rush forward. Metal collided and cries of pain and anguish filled the silence. The real battle had just begun.

Even exhausted as he was, Kakashi started to tear through the ranks of the bandits like they were nothing, cutting them down one by one. Those untrained men were no challenge for the battle hardened shinobi at all, the only thought on his mind was to finish this conflict before he was to tired to move.

Naruto on the other hand was starting to have a hard time with the enemies, he and his clones had gotten in a few early hits at the start, but now all of them were cornered by multiple men. And unlike his sensei he hadn't years of experience to even the odds. One by one his clones vanished into clouds of smoke after they were hit, till only the original was left behind.

A panting Naruto stood in the middle of a small circle, surrounded by about 10 of those damned mercenaries. He had a few shallow cuts from where their weapons had hit him, small trickles of blood running down his body.

"Is that all you got?" He mocked them loudly.

One of the thugs rushed forward a butcher knife in his hand , attempting a horizontal strike at the blond genin. The assault was blocked by the kunai in Naruto's hand, before the nin drove his left leg into the stomach of the attacker.

Sadly this action left an opening on his left side, a chance that one of his enemies had detected. Naruto's left torso was hit by an underhand strike from a mallet, his body was propelled upwards. He flew in a high arch over the crowd below him and crashed than with his back hard into the railing of the bridge. After that Naruto's world went black.

A hail of arrows landed before the first row of battling thugs, on the other side of the bridge a bulk of villagers could be seen, armed with crossbows, spears and hatchets. "If you come any further onto our island the citizens of this Country will stop you with everything we've got!"

Kakashi broke free from his current battleground and positioned himself between those two groups, securing a better position in battle and allowing him to regain his breath. Weapons still drawn, facing the attackers he was ready for everything that would come next.

The ranks of mercenaries shifted and a grim looking guy exited, he dragged a beaten orange clad body with him. His left hand tight clasped around the throat of the unconscious Naruto. The thug lifted the boy's limp body over the bridge's railing, letting him hang freely above the dark sea, only held by the hard grip of one hand.

"Let us pass or this annoying brat pays the price" The gruff voice of the man that had Naruto's life in his hands could be heard all over the bridge.

Just in that moment Naruto regained his senses, he could feel the constricting sensation around his neck. Immediately he started to shift and wiggle his body in an useless effort to free himself. Not realizing how dangerous his current situation really was, he doubled his efforts to break free.

"Hold still idiot!" With his right hand the thug slapped Naruto hard on his cheek. What he hadn't taken into account was that the genin almost instantly took his chance and sank his sharp teeth into the attacking man's hand. With a yelp of pain the mercenary loosened his grip around the boy's throat and gravity started to take action.

"NARUTO!"

Panic-fueled shouts came from the top of the giant bridge as the small boy's body spiraled downwards to the thunderous sea. A large splashing sound could be heard as Naruto's body hit the water surface. The onlookers could only watch helplessly as the low tide dragged the struggling genin's body seawards to the horizon.

* * *

A small body stirred below his blanket. Moving to the left and right in his resting place, just waking up for the first time in days. He was unlucky enough although, because he hadn't slept in a normal bed but rather a hammock. And so he plumped unceremoniously onto the hard wooden floor below him. Not the nicest way to wake up.

"Ugh, what the hell?" Naruto propped himself into a sitting position and started to look around. Something wasn't right here, he couldn't remember this place at all. His eyes looked down onto his own body, where were his trademark orange clothes? Instead of his jumpsuit he was now dressed in dark blue pants and a white shirt.

"Where I am? What I am wearing? And why does this room sway back and forth?" Naruto asked no one in particular.

"You are on a ship, kid. The Big Lady, that's her name, I'm her captain. One of the finest cargo vessels you can find in the Elemental Nations." Was the proud reply the blond got. "We fished you out of the sea, your hideous orange clothes saved your hide. Got really lucky with that, otherwise you would be dead by now"

Naruto's gaze drifted to the direction of the gruff voice, that had spoken to him. He could see an old man probably in his fifties, gray hair and beard, an eye patch over his left eye, dressed almost in the same clothes he himself currently wore.

"Remember why you thought it would be a good idea to take a swim that far away from the mainland?"

Memories of the recent battle in the Land of Waves flashed through the blond's mind. Immediately he jumped from his sitting position into a standing one, pumping his fist high into the air. "I need to get back to the Land of Waves, 'ttebayo. My team is counting on me!"

The sailor chuckled at the boy's antics. "Sorry kid, we are already far away from that place. You were out three days and nights, whatever happened back there is already over. The next stop is a small port town in the Land of Lightning, we need to restock supplies there. After that the lady heads towards the Land of Water."

"But..." Naruto tried to complain but his objection was cut short.

"No buts shrimp, be happy that you are alive, it's either Lightning or Water your choice." That was the last reply the blond got before the captain left the cabin, leaving the boy alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Five days later the vessel reached the port town in the Land of Lighting Naruto had decided that if he wanted to return to Konoha, he had to leave the ship here. Lightning Country and the Land of Fire were connected through dry land, he could make his way by foot. Still it would take a few weeks to get back to his homeland.

Naruto's immense luck had ensured his survival but most of his belongings were gone. The only things left in his possession were his leaf headband, Gama-chan and about two thousand ryo. Hopefully that would be enough to get a few supplies for the long journey home,also a map probably wouldn't be such a bad investment. Anyway he had gotten some clothing from the ship's captain, 3 pairs of white shirts and blue pants, the same uniform the regular sailors wore. It was a start at least.

The city, if you dared to call it that, wasn't big, about 100 buildings and a few warehouses in the harbor area. Naruto easily found a shop that sold supplies and other goods, normally for the traveling through seaman. He bought a black backpack, a few rations including canned food and water, lastly also a map of the Elemental Nations.

With his last money spent on the necessities of his travel, Naruto stood on the western edge of the town, ready to leave. "Konoha, wait for me! Uzumaki Naruto is coming home, dattebayo!" He pumped his fist straight into the air, his headband tightly clutched in the raised hand.

After that little emotional outbreak, he stowed his precious headband safely away in his backpack. It wasn't the best idea, if he was seen wearing the symbol of Konoha traveling through one of the other major nations. Soon he was walking in a steady pace towards his homeland.

* * *

Two days had passed since Naruto had entered Lightning Country and started his voyage home. He followed the coastline westwards, as it was the best landmark he had for orientation. The blond had bought a map but had forgotten that without a compass the map was almost useless. It wasn't detailed enough to include smaller landmarks and only major cities and capitals were marked on it. The coastline to his left side was comprised of cliffs and escarpments, while to his right was a softwood forest. This was all he had seen since the start of his journey two days ago.

Naruto was now particular thankful for the survival lesson he had had in the academy. Finding water and food, hunting small animals down, setting up traps, making fire without matches or a lighter and building a shelter with branches and leaves, those lessons had served him well the last days. "Have to thank Iruka-sensei when I come home." Naruto mumbled to himself. His mind drifted towards Konoha, his senseis and his comrades

**Boom!**

A loud explosion ripped the blond boy out of his thoughts. Now most people would run away or at least stay a safe distance away from such a spectacle, but no not Uzumaki Naruto. Even in a foreign Country, on dangerous terrain, his curiosity got the better of him and he stalked carefully towards the location from where the sounds emanated.

Some smaller explosions could be heard as Naruto made his way towards the source of all the commotion. It took him a minute or two to reach said location, he ducked behind one of the trees and watched the scene before him unfold.

In a clearing in the woods stood 4 men, one of them facing the other three. The middle of the clearing looked like a large explosion had taken place, rubble was scattered all around, the top layer of earth had been forcefully removed and on the edges the grass was burnt.

The three men stood in a triangle formation, all of them clothed the same outfit. Black pants, a dark gray shirt, a bandana in the same color as the shirt, with a metal head plate sewed into it, a white flak jacket over the shirt and finally dark black glasses that hid their eyes.

Naruto didn't recognize the village symbol on the metal plates. Now he regretted that he hadn't listened better to Iruka-sensei's lessons. At least he could assume this were Kumogakure shinobi, as it was the most logical choice.

Their adversary was a blond man, he had about half of his hair in a ponytail, while the rest of it hung freely over one of his eyes. The choice of clothing he wore was most unusual, an auburn, floor-length robe clung loosely to his body, obscuring even his hands from view.

The three ninja were already heavy panting while their enemy stood there relaxed and smiling. He lifted his arms and his hands shot out from the sleeves of his robes, starting to form hand signs in fast succession. The blond was finished almost as soon as he had started, than he pointed his palms outward in the direction of his enemies. It looked like he had strange mouths implanted in his palms, those hand-mouths spat out multiple white batches of an unrecognizable material.

As soon as the batches had left the mouths they formed into small birds and rushed towards the three nin on the opposite side of the clearing.

It seemed as if those three had already experience with that strange creatures, because they tried their hardest to dodge them. But in the end it was a futile effort on their side, all three were hit several times by the strange birds. Every time on of the flying things crashed hard into one of them it left a white stain on the target.

A loud yell of "KATSU!" pierced the silence.

After that another set of explosions rocked the clearing, smoke rose around the three ninjas that were facing the single stranger. After the sight was clear again, Naruto saw all of them lying on the ground , with large flesh wounds and torn cloths. He was sure all three were either dead or would die within the next few minutes. Watching such a brutal but effective display of power really astonished Naruto.

"I know you are there, come out of your hiding place, un"

The voice of the victor startled Naruto. Knowing hiding would be pointless against such a foe, he composed himself and walked into the clearing, trying to appear as brave and strong as possible.

"Are you going to kill me, like them?" He asked with a small hint of fear in his voice.

The blond genin's counterpart only shook his head. " Those 3 ignoramuses and I had some sort of quarrel, they mocked the beauty of my work, so they had to pay for their insults."

Naruto took a deep breath, calmed down that his life was not at stake here. Narutos face formed a small,sly grin. "You know, those explosive things you did with your hands are kinda cool"

"Hm, you like my art, kid?"

"Art?" Naruto didn't understand the stranger before him, wasn't art something like paintings and stuff like that.

"Art is an explosion, un!" Was the immediate reply he got.

The blond genin could only nod, he never had heard that explosions could be art. But he liked it nevertheless, explosions were beautiful in their own way and awesome, lets not forget explosions are awesome. "Then yes I like you art, that was so cool!" Naruto exclaimed in his usual hyper way and gave a thumbs up to the demolition expert.

The bomber really started to warm up to the blond kid before him, at least this guy understood the beauty of his art. "The name is Deidara and who your are?" He stretched his arm out, towards Naruto, for a friendly handshake.

Their hands clasped together. "Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage of the hidden leaf, 'ttebayo!"

After shaking their hands Deidara eyed Naruto carefully. Normally he would be wary of a Konohagakure shinobi, after all he was born, raised and trained in Iwagakure. Konoha and Iwa had a long standing feud, almost since both villages were founded. But the little blond ball of energy before him really was different. He was the first person to really admire his handwork.

"Could you... um... show me how to make awesome explosions like you do?" Pleaded an eager Naruto. When else would he get a chance to learn something so fantastic.

Deidara got a stern expression on his face and gazed deep into Naruto's blue eyes, neither of them broke their staring contest for several seconds. Finally the blond bomber spoke. "If you want to follow the road of the true artist, I could show you a thing or two I presume, un."

* * *

A/N:

This is my first fan fiction I would appreciate constructive critic, if you want to flame, shove it. English isn't my native language, so if I used a manner of speaking which is wrong please point it out to me. Same goes for all writing or grammar errors.

As I have no beta reader currently the story is only checked with a spellchecker and my limited knowledge, if anybody is brave enough, I am accepting willing beta readers.

Deidara is not an Akatsuki member, he is still an Iwagakure missing nin though. The reason why he doesn't wear a headband will be addressed later. He isn't inside of Akatsuki in this fic because it is set in a small AU. I changed one person's personality (no not Deidara). If you can guess who got a change you get a cookie!

Yes this will be NaruHina eventually, no heavy Romance till early Shippuden. The next two years in the fic (till start of shippuden) will be spent on developing their friendship and love. If you don't like the pairing don't read it.


	2. Chapter 1, Homecoming

**Chapter 1: Homecoming **

Ten weeks had passed since the fateful incident in the Land of Waves. Naruto Uzumaki had been declared M.I.A. by the Hokage, after the rest of Team 7 returned from their mission. The village leader had warned the citizen of Konoha that he wouldn't tolerate any sort of celebration, to party the presumed death of the 'demon brat'.

Currently the chunin Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki were on another boring round of guarding Konoha's main gate.

Kotetsu shot his partner an angry glare. "Why do you always volunteer the two of us for this ridiculous duty, Izumo?"

"Because it's an honorable work to do for the village. Furthermore it's mostly quiet and safe here, any problem with that Kotetsu?" Was the return he got from his friend.

"Your modest attitude is so not helping us becoming jonin any sooner..." Putting his head into his hands, Kotetsu could only groan. Why was this guy his best friend again?

A loud cough, pulled both guards out of their musings. "Genin Uzumaki Naruto, ninja registration zero-one-two-six-zero-seven, announcing my return from prolonged absence." The voice before them spoke in a monotonous trot.

"That joke is getting old brats, the Naruto kid is surely dead by now." Kotetsu replied with barely hidden anger during his whole speech. Some of Konoha's children had found it funny to play 'The Naruto is coming home trick' on the unsuspecting gate guards a few times by now.

"I AM Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo! How else would I know my ninja registration number?" Almost shouted the stranger at the two dim-witted chunin.

Both now looked closer at the figure before them, he really had a vague resemblance with the missing genin. They were given a picture of Naruto, as comparison material should the real one arrive back home, That picture was pinned onto one of the walls of the gate house. Izumo and Kotetsu looked hard at the picture and than at the blond guy that had spoken to them.

If this was really Naruto Uzumaki, he had hit a grow spurt while he was away. The boy stood with his new height of about 1.55 meters before them. His hair had grown a few centimeters and looked now even wilder and spikier than before his absence. Two long, blond spikes had bent down and obscured his right eye from their view. His attire consisted of an auburn floor-length robe, with a light gray Uzumaki spiral sewed onto the back side. The robe had a continuous zipper on the front side and was currently zipped wide open. Underneath Naruto wore a form fitting mesh shirt, dark orange and black pants (shippuden style) and a belt with multiple pouches was strung around his waist. A camouflage colored monocular, that was attached to a black metal rope, hung loosely from his neck, almost looking like some kind of pendant. In one hand he had a black backpack and his one blue eye stared impatiently at the two gate guards waiting for their reply.

Finally having enough of the waiting, Naruto pulled up his mesh shirt a bit and channeled some chakra, instantly on his stomach appeared an intrinsic seal pattern. "So, you believe me now, or do I need to release the grumpy fox on you?" He groaned in an annoyed tone.

Both chunin could only nod dumbly. Izumo was the fist one to find his voice again, "Hokage-sama said he wanted to see you immediately, should you return."

"Then I'm on my way again." Naruto's voice sounded now much more happy and peaceful again, his mood instantly brightened after his dealing with those gate guards was finished.

Naruto slung his backpack over his shoulder, made a sharp turn and started walking towards the Hokage Tower. A small smile was etched onto his face as he made his way through his hometown, he was finally back.

People didn't seem to recognize him, even though his most prominent feature, his whisker marks were still widely visible. Maybe his new hairstyle, combined with the different clothing made him look really that unrecognizable? They didn't stare or insult him, it was a welcome change indeed. But he was sure that this new behavior wouldn't last long, sooner or later everything would be back to the same old routine.

* * *

After roughly 15 minutes of steady walking, Naruto had finally reached his destination, the massive Hokage Tower. He hurried inside, passing stair- and hallways, till he could see the entrance to the old man's office. Two ninja flanked either side of the large door, both dressed in the standard Konoha chunin uniform. Naruto stopped right before the entry and reached out for the handle.

"Where do you think you are going, brat?" One of the guardians raised his voice.

"The Hokage has requested my presence." Was Naruto's simple reply.

"And who do you think you are?" The guard seemed visible annoyed by the blond boy by now.

The genin took his leaf headband out of one of his belt pouches and tied it around his forehead. Two long spikes of his blond hair still hung over the headband and obscured half of his right eye now. He stared deep into the eyes of the sentry and started speaking. "Uzumaki Naruto, now if you excuse me the Hokage is waiting." Before either of the men could give him an answer, he had already entered the office.

"Good day, Hokage-sama." This was how Naruto addressed the leader of Konoha as he set foot into the room.

The Hokage was sitting in his chair reading over some paperwork, his smoking pipe in his mouth. As he heard the greeting he raised his head and looked onto the new arrival. First the person seemed unfamiliar, he wore a leaf headband, but the Hokage couldn't remember anybody that would dress in such an uncommon style. The blond unruly hair although, he could swear, he knew somebody with such hair. As soon as Sarutobi had seen the ocean blue eyes and the scarred lines on the cheeks, he had realized who had entered his office. His smoking pipe fell out of his mouth and landed with a bang on the table.

"N-N-Naruto?" Asked the shaking voice of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"You've got it, old man. It has been a while, hasn't it?" A large grin was plastered onto Naruto's face as he spoke those words.

The Hokage took a few seconds to compose himself, coming over the shock of seeing somebody whom he presumed to be dead. "Where the hell where you?"

"Oh, here, there and everywhere." It took all of his control not to break out in laughter as he gave the Hokage this bullshit reply.

The aged man crashed his fist onto the wooden table. "That's not the time for your silly jokes, Naruto!" The anger in Sarutobi's voice could almost be felt as he had unconscious released a bit of killing intent into the room.

Naruto didn't even shiver although. "Get a grip on yourself, old man. No need to fly off the handle, 'ttebayo ." It was really good to see the Hokage again. Naruto had enjoyed the show until now, but it was probably better if he would finally give the Hokage some answers.

"You surely know how I have gone missing, don't you?" After receiving a knowing nod, the blond genin continued with his story. "A cargo vessel fished me out of the sea, took me three days to regain conscious again. The captain dropped me off somewhere in Lightning Country. It was just a small port town, can't even remember the name. And it took me the next eight and a half weeks to get back to Konoha. Anything else you want to know?" Naruto hoped the Hokage would be pleased with this short explanation, he didn't wanted to go any deeper into the subject, if he could avoid it.

"How did you gain money, while traveling?" Was the first question Naruto received from the village leader.

"Did some freelancing, taking out bandits, guard duties, transporting things and easy stuff like that."

Sarutobi was a bit astonished by that casual reply, but it wasn't so surprising at all. Naruto had to watch for himself since he was five and doing freelance ninja work was better than being a thief or a robber. "Did you meet somebody interesting while traveling the world?" Asked the Hokage innocently.

That was one of the topics that Naruto had dreaded, now he had to lie to old man, but that was unavoidable.

_FLASHBACK _

_It was early in the morning, around 5.30 AM. After setting a camp up here yesterday evening, Naruto and Deidara had already packed in all their belongings again and were ready to continue their travel._

"_We are about 5 or 6 hours away from Konoha. Our ways part here, un." Deidara was sitting on one of his clay birds, while he spoke those words._

"_Can't you come with me? You would like Konoha, I promise, dattebayo!" Naruto tried to convince his traveling companion._

"_We talked about it, didn't we? Even if I could come with you, Iwa would raise hell onto Konoha for housing me. Also you know I don't really like Konoha ninja, you are the exception, my little apprentice." The bomber took a deep breath "Don't tell ANYBODY that you traveled with me. Your village won't like it, if they find out that their jinchuuriki was influenced by some random missing nin."_

"_You aren't some random missing nin, Dei-nii-san. You're the world best __demolition expert_ _, at least till I surpass you!" The blond genin pumped his fist into the air to emphasize the statement, he truly believed in._

_Deidara smiled at Naruto's antics, he had really become like his little brother in those past two months. He ruffled the other blond's hair a final time. Then his clay bird took a turn and flew steadily into a direction that would bring him far away from Konoha. "Just promise me you won't tell anybody about me, I don't want you to get hurt. And never forget..."_

"_Art is an Explosion, 'ttebayo!" Naruto finished the sentence his role model had started. After that he began walking, finally heading home. His thoughts still lingering on the person that would shape his life like nobody else._

_FLASHBACK KAI_

"Not really, a few bandits here and there, but they didn't stand a chance against the almighty Uzumaki Naruto!" He hoped that that reply would satisfy the Hokage. "Hey old man, did my team survive the Wave Country?" That was something Naruto was genuine interested in and it would hopefully distract the Hokage from asking any more questions.

"After your 'demise', Team 7 and the villagers were able to drive the mercenary force away. There were no causalities on their side." A gasp of relief left Naruto. "Our client even honored your sacrifice, naming the bridge after you. The Great Uzumaki Bridge."

That news brought a proud smile on Naruto's face. "Could you please tell Tazuna that I'm alive and well?"

The old leader gave a small nod, than he took a deep puff from his pipe. "There is something else, we need to discuss. Naruto, I can't place you back into Team 7."

"So my vacant spot had already been filled?" The blond boy didn't even sounded surprised. He had expected that much already.

"Back than, after you were presumed missing, my advisers brought to my attention that it would hinder the last Uchiha's growth, if his team was incomplete. So another genin was transferred to fill in for you."

Naruto crossed his arms before his chest and took on a thoughtful expression. "Which means I have no team and no sensei, just great."

"But this is where you are wrong, I can't place you back into your old team. There is however a free position in the team, from where I took your replacement."

A loud laugh could be heard through the room. "So I'm my replacement's replacement? That's almost ridiculous. Who are my unfortunate teammates then?"

"As of now you're a member of Team 8 led by Kurenai Yuhi, your new teammates are Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuuga. " The Hokage nearly ceremoniously proclaimed. "You can meet them later on today. 4.00 PM, Training Ground Forty-Two. That should be everything, for now, Naruto."

"Understood, old man." Naruto gave a small bow. He turned around ready to leave, but abruptly stopped after the second step towards the door. He had suddenly remembered an important topic he almost forgot.

"Something else on your mind?"

The blond genin turned back, to stare deeply into the Hokage's eyes. To say Naruto's gaze was icy would be the understatement of the year. The happy attitude that he had a few moments ago was clearly gone. The whole room temperature seem to drop a few degree.

"Why did you hide my heritage from me, Hokage-sama?" The way he addressed the old man and the tone of his voice were threatening, he even created a small portion of killing intent.

"What do you mean?" The old leader appeared calm, but that was only on the outside. In reality, he was quite tense, what if Naruto had somehow found out about his father? That wouldn't end well for the Hokage, he was sure of it.

"My family name isn't for show only, isn't it? I'm a member of the Uzumaki Clan, originated from the Land of Whirlpools?" Naruto's eyes never left the old leader, while he asked his question. He had learned this during the first day of traveling with Deidara. After the bomber had agreed to teach him a few things and Naruto had explained his whole situation, the topic of his family name somehow popped up.

_FLASHBACK _

"_You're an Uzumaki right? So you are some kind of clan prodigy?" Questioned a curious Deidara._

"_Clan? What are you talking about, I'm just a no-name orphan." The slightly agitated genin replied. _

"_No, hard feelings here, I'm an orphan myself, kid. But the Uzumaki's were once a famous clan, before their destruction." Lectured the bomber._

"_I have a name and it isn't kid. So what? Probably just a coincidence that I have the same surname like some exterminated clan." This wasn't the kind of topic Naruto was comfortable with._

_Deidara stifled a laugh. "What do they teach you brats in Konoha? If you're named Uzumaki you are a clan member, easy as that. It's a sacrilege to use a clan's name if you aren't related, nobody sane would dare to commit that crime."_

"_You said they were destroyed, didn't you? So who would give a damn?" The turn of events had gotten Naruto interested in the current talk. Probably, he really was from that dead clan after all, he could hope at least. Even if he was the last one, it would still be some kind of family, something he longed for since he could remember._

"_Their former allies, their old enemies or the spirits of the dead themselves? Konoha and your clan were allies by the way, once, before Whirlpools' destruction." _

"_Whirlpool?" That was Naruto's educated reply._

_The next few hours traveling were spent with Deidara's explanation on the Uzumaki Clan and the Land of Whirlpools. In the end Naruto was convinced that he had in fact a clan, that was something the Hokage had to answer for._

_FLASHBACK KAI_

Sarutobi relaxed visibly, it wasn't as bad as he had assumed. This was a situation he could handle after all. "You are right, your are an Uzumaki, most probably the last Uzumaki. That's the reason why I didn't tell you anything about your family line, I didn't want you to get up your hopes up to find any family members, because likely there are none. And I couldn't risk, that you would leave, searching the world for your family. You are important to Konoha, Naruto."

"I know that much already, Konoha won't let their precious jinchuuriki escape" He almost spat out. "And the Uzumaki's were destroyed by Iwa, Kumo and Kiri forces during the second shinobi world war." Naruto bailed his fists in anger. "Dammit! I had the right to know it!" He shouted in rage, his eyes shut tight.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, I should have told you about it. I wasn't sure if you would understand it though." The Hokage took in a sharp breath, preparing himself for the lie he was going to feed the boy now. "Your mother was an Uzumaki, a traveling kunoichi. You were born while she stayed in Konoha. She was killed by the Kyuubi during the rampage it caused. There are no records about your father though."

"Thank you for the full story. I will take my leave then, Hokage-sama." And with those last words Naruto left the office. He wasn't sure if he could believe the story about his parents. It sounded like a plausible scenario, but the Hokage had lied about his heritage before.

After the blond genin had left the Hokage Tower, he still had about three and a half hours to spend till he should meet his new team. Starting to walk into a certain direction, he wanted to visit his apartment complex. His room probably was already rented to somebody else, but a look wouldn't hurt.

The atmosphere around him was now obvious different, people stared and murmured behind his back again. Either they now recognized him with his headband on or one of the guards had spread the word of the _demon's _return. Some people openly glared at him or insulted him, in fact it was worse than what he was used to. Maybe because he had the gall to be still alive?

* * *

About 20 minutes later Naruto was on his way to get something to eat. His hunch had been right, his flat was already occupied by somebody else, his few belongings long gone. It wasn't like he had lost something that was valuable or something he was emotional attached to. The only thing he owned that would qualify for that category was his precious headband. Still it hurt to know, that people wanted him gone so bad. He had decided a few bowls of ramen would be the right thing now, to lift his dampening mood.

"Three bowls of miso please." Was Naruto's casual order as he entered his favorite food stand, Ichiraku Ramen.

"Coming up!" Yelled the busy chef from behind the counter.

Two minutes later three steaming hot bowls of miso ramen stood before the hungry boy. Teuchi finally could take a good look at his customer and nearly dropped his wooden spoon. "Naruto, my boy, is that truly you?"

"Believe it! Oh, how I missed you, godly ramen." A quick "Itadakimasu" later Naruto dug into his beloved food.

After finishing his lunch, Naruto retold his adventure to Teuchi and the newly arrived Ayame. Both of them were quite happy that their favorite customer was alive and well. Saying his goodbye, Naruto headed towards the final location he wanted to visit, before meeting with Team 8.

* * *

Kurenai Yuhi was currently standing before the Hokage, an ANBU had informed her, that the village leader would require her presence.

"You have sent for me, Hokage-sama?"

"Indeed Kurenai, I have finally found someone to complete your team again."

The sensei of Team 8 was almost ecstatic after hearing the news, with only two rookie genin her team was refrained from higher level missions. The only thing they did for the last 8 weeks were standard training and D-ranks. "And who is my new charge?" Asked she with hope in her voice.

"Uzumaki Naruto" Was the simple reply she got.

Those words shocked her to the core, everybody had assumed the boy was dead by now. She took a few seconds to compose herself, after that revelation had hit her and than inquired. "When did he return? Where was he for the last ten weeks?"

The old leader took about five minutes to bring Kurenai up to date on the Uzumaki situation.

"Hokage-sama, isn't it normally a standard procedure for a shinobi, who spent so much time in enemy territory to receive a mind scan?" The worried Kurenai asked finally.

"Under normal circumstances you would be right, but you have to take his status as jinchuuriki into account. No Yamanaka has ever performed one of their techniques on a host, nobody could predict the results. I'm not willing to risk any shinobi for a task that could serious harm or kill said shinobi." The Hokage clarified with a stern expression.

"So it's my new job to watch over him, looking out for any indicators that he is a threat to the village or even a possible spy?"

"Among other things, yes. Here are his files, read them carefully, I await an update at the end of the week." The Hokage handed her a folder with documents. "Your meeting with him is scheduled for today, 4.00 PM, Training Ground Forty-Two." And with that the conversation had ended.

Kurenai headed back outside the tower to inform her team of their new companion. She knew one thing for sure, that arrangement would cause troubles.

* * *

Naruto had still two hours till meeting his new comrades, having already reached the last destination he wanted to visit before heading to the training grounds, he looked at the huge building, that held so many memories for him.

Carefully he walked through the hallways of the Academy, looking for the classroom of the first-graders. Finally he could hear Iruka-sensei's lecturing voice coming out of one of the rooms. His hands formed a quick ram hand sign and in the place of the male genin suddenly stood a busty, grinning blond bombshell, clad in a form-fitting black bikini. Than he entered the classroom.

All eyes drifted to the newcomer that had stepped into the class.

"Did you miss me, Iruka-kun?" Questioned a sexy, sultry voice.

Said man could only stare in pure shock at the transpiring events. First he wanted to yell, because he had to see this indecent jutsu again. But as soon as he realized the implications of the situation, his mind froze and he could only continue to stare at the blond female.

"Think I broke him." Could be heard between the loud laughs coming from Naruto. But the blond genin was also in for a surprise, as he was almost tackled down by a blur that glomped him hard.

"BOSS, you're alive!" Shouted a frantic Konohamaru as he embrace his role model.

A cloud of smoke erupted around those two and the blond girl was replaced by the original Uzumaki Naruto. "Missed you too, Konohamaru-chan." A still laughing Naruto replied, while he patted the brown haired kids head.

Finally Iruka had snapped out from his shock. "Class, you're dismissed early today."

After hearing that statement, all students stormed out of the room leaving only Iruka, Naruto and Konohamaru behind.

More than the next hour Naruto spent retelling his travels to his ex-sensei and his unofficial student. Iruka was astonished on how good the blond boy had handled himself for the past two months, while Konohamaru really enjoyed the stories of his idol's adventures. The whole time Naruto never mentioned his secret traveling companion, like he had promised to Deidara.

"So guys, I need to head out, meeting me new team. See ya soon!" And with that Naruto jumped out of one of the classroom windows, rushing towards Training Ground Forty-Two.

"Not fair, I wanted to see your new jutsu, boss." Shouted Konohamaru after him.

* * *

Training Ground Forty-Two, was a simple, grass covered, fairly huge clearing surrounded by a thick forest, located on the outskirts of Konoha, in the direct neighborhood of the famed and feared Training Ground Forty-Four. Uzumaki Naruto was currently sitting in the middle of it, cross-legged, deep in meditation.

Team 8 had finally reached the intended meeting place, almost fifteen minutes late. The reason therefor was fairly simple. Kurenai had told her two genin, that they would get a third team member again. After mentioning who was their new comrade, Hinata Hyuuga had promptly fainted at the news and it had taken quite a while to wake her up.

The black haired jonin wasn't sure if the Hyuuga heir would be able to function correctly with her crush as new teammate, but probably the blond could pull the girl out from her shy shell. Something Kurenai wasn't able to do, no matter how hard she tried for the past few months.

All three of them were surprised as the saw the mediating Naruto sitting in the middle of the training ground. He was not like they had expected. No orange clothing, no loud boasting, no hyper activity, just sitting there as still as a statue.

The blonde raised his head and looked from his position over to his new team. His gazed wandered over them all, from his jonin-sensei to the stoic Aburame and the the currently blushing Hyuuga.

"You're late!" Naruto voiced his opinion in an amused tone. "Still not as bad as Kakashi-sensei though, only fifteen minutes."

* * *

A/N:

Kinda a cliffhanger, I know but it was the right time to stop in my opinion. Yeah I skipped Naruto's training with Dei, mainly because I will show the important lessons through flashbacks in the next few (5 to 10) chapters, expect 1 or 2 flashbacks per chapter.

Sasuke got a new teammate (yes, Kiba, he is the best one to replace Naruto in my opinion) through Danzo's (and the other two old geezers) intervention. One of the reasons was to give Sasuke another person to socialize with, trying to form bonds to Konoha, preventing another Itachi.

The story will follow canon loosely, but will diverge after the chunin exams conclusion. My approach will be to make the story darker and more realistic (for example gaara will be a much more psychopathic killer in the forest of death, with a strategy to capture his prey. Come on he was depicted as mass murderer who only cared for blood top prove his existence, the forest is the perfect proving ground for him.).

**Von Kreuz: **

Naruto won't get the mouth hands, it would be an interesting concept but almost useless because unlike Deidara, Naruto hasn't the Bakuton element. His current abilities will be revealed next chapter and his fighting style will still revolve mainly about blowing things up, Deidara is his role model after all. He will be a bit stronger than in canon (for now), mainly because of his huge chakra reserves + explosive ninjutsu gives him an edge. I'm trying not to overpower him, just stayed tune till the next chapter, to learn more.


	3. Chapter 2, Being Team 8

**Chapter 2: Being Team 8 **

Naruto raised himself from the ground and started walking towards his dumbfounded team. They hadn't awaited such a greeting from him, but he wasn't the number one surprise ninja for nothing.

Kurenai fumed a bit, the blond had just compared here to the chronically late Kakashi Hatake, she knew that she had to rectify this misunderstanding now, otherwise the blond would believe that she had a similar habit like the one-eyed jonin. She really didn't want to be compared to the lazy pervert, but before she could give a reply someone else spoke up.

"We're sorry that you had to wait for us Uzumaki-san. Why we were late you ask? Because, something had acquired our immediate attention, nothing to worry about though." The Aburame gave as overlong answer.

Hinata meanwhile tried to hide her embarrassment, she had remembered, she were the reason why Team 8 was late. Her head sunk partially into her coat and she moved halfway behind Kurenai-sensei.

"No need for formalities Shino, just call me Naruto, plain and simple." Said the blond, while he was still moving towards the other three individuals occupying the training ground.

"I try to remember that, Naruto-san." Replied the ever stoic Aburame, the addressed teammate could only shake his head in wonder.

The four stood finally face to face as Naruto raised his voice again. "So sensei, what are the main functions this team normally performs?" Deidara had told him that most teams were specialized in some area and he wanted to know how he would fit into his teams role.

His new sensei stared in wonder at the young boy, nothing in his files had indicated that he was that insightful, probably his field trip had really changed him? "The Team was formed as tracking and information gathering unit,mainly because the clan techniques of Hyuuga, Aburame and Inuzuka were especially suitable for that kind of work."

Naruto gave a small nod, before he replied. "My shadow clones should be able to help out with this goals quite good, especially with their ability to return memories to the user." Finding out that special ability of his clones was quite funny indeed, but had hurt badly.

_FLASHBACK_

_Five of Naruto's shadow clones stood in a clearing, side by side, their faces distorted in concentration, hands forming a ram hand sign. Sweat was dripping down their faces, one the five finally had enough. They had trained different ways how to explode for the last three weeks and still it didn't lead to any real results. _

_"Argh, we will never get this down guys!" The annoyed clone shouted out loud._

_"Already giving up on art my pupil, un?" Deidara walked out of the forest into the clearing._

_"This isn't getting us anywhere, try it for yourself Dei-sensei if you think it's so easy, 'ttebayo!" The blond copy yelled, seriously angry at the lack of progression._

_"You have to work hard to understand true art, it took me years to reach my level of __enlightenment, but don't give up the hope, I believe in your way of the artist, Naruto-chan." The blond bomber patted the copy's head lightly during his speech._

_Suddenly Deidara could feel an __intensification_ _ of chakra nearby, his eyes wandered to one of the other clones, who were still concentrating hard to compress their chakra. One of the other four copies had lost all his color and his body looked strangely distorted. That would be the last thing he ever saw, then an explosion rocked the clearing._

_A few hundred meters away deep in the woods, both blonds had set up their camp. The real Deidara and Naruto currently lay there on the forest floor, their faces contorted in pain._

_"Ow! That hurt. Hey wait, why the hell do I even know how it feels to be blown apart?" Shouted an amazed Naruto._

_FLASHBACK KAI_

Kurenai nodded at the conclusion the blond had drawn. "Your shadow clones will be a nice addition to the team. What I wanted to ask you is, how many of them can you make, Naruto?"

The genin looked like he was deep in thought after hearing the question, then he answered. "Between forty and fifty before me reserves are mostly empty, quite some more with the help of my tenant."

The black haired jonin was shocked at how many solid clones the genin could create, probably even the Hokage couldn't make that many. The topic of the Kyuubi scared her though, she leaned forward to the boy and whispered into his ear. "Are you sure you want to discuss your special condition before your teammates?"

Naruto looked at his sensei, then his teammates, a serious expression on his face. "If you allow it sensei I would like to tell them about my burden. You should know that I used it subconsciously during my last mission, so they will see it sooner or later. If that moment comes, it is better for them to know about it beforehand, it could affect their combat readiness."

Kurenai could understand his reasoning, so she gave Naruto the answer he deserved. "You have my permission to tell them everything you want, after all it's your secret and only you and the Hokage can freely speak about it without punishment."

Hinata and Shino were both puzzled by the discussion between their sensei and new teammate, what kind of secret were they going to learn? Both watched Naruto with curiosity, waiting that he would tell them about it.

"I am the Kyuubi." The blond said with an unemotional voice.

The rest of Team 8 were baffled. Kurenai didn't understand why Naruto would talk like that, surely he knew the difference between the prison and the prisoner. Shino thought that Naruto was trying to prank them somehow, what else could be the purpose of such a ridiculous statement. And Hinata? Somehow it made sense, she knew that most people hated her crush for some incomprehensible reason. But she was sure that he wasn't some kind of monster and he wasn't clearly not evil. If he would be the nine tailed fox demon Konoha would already be burning to the ground for everything they did to him.

Naruto stifled a laugh. "You should see your faces." He took on a much more stern expression. "Okay, the fun is over, now on to the serious matters at hand." The blond took a deep breath. "I am not the Kyuubi, as you have already guessed. But still the former statement had some truths in it. Whatever you think you know about the beast's demise is a lie. In fact the Yondaime Hokage didn't kill it, how should he have done that in the first place? The Kyuubi is just chakra, you can't kill chakra. So he did the next best thing, he sealed it away by putting the chakra beast into a newborn baby."

Naruto took a look at his two teammates, both seemed to have caught on. "Yes the Yondaime sealed the demon into me on that fateful day, the tenth of October, more than 12 years ago. I am Konoha's resident jinchuuriki." The blond boy said with a heavy voice.

Naruto was awaiting some outrageous yells or hateful glares, but nothing like that ever came. Both of his new comrades seemed to be deep in thought over what he had told them. Shino's expression was unreadable, while Hinata had a deep look of sadness engraved into her face.

The Aburame was the first one, who raised his voice to speak his opinion, after he carefully had analyzed Naruto's statement. "This is the reason you are generally disliked by Konoha's population, because they only see you as resurrected representation of the terrible Kyuubi, Naruto-san?" Receiving a small nod from the blond, he continued his speech. "You are no more the Kyuubi than I am a bug, just because our bodies house some other being, it doesn't make us said being."

Hinata was silent through the whole ordeal, now she fully understood why people hated her idol. She had to reassure him that she saw him for nothing more, than the person he is, not the Kyuubi or a demon. The Hyuuga girl took all courage she could find in herself together and spoke. "S-Shino is right, N-Na-ruto-k-kun. You're just a normal human being with a terrible burden."

The next second, both genin found themselves embraced by an emotional Naruto. "Thank you guys, you don't know how much that means to me, dattebayo" He was really moved that both of them had so easily accepted him, even after knowing his darkest secret.

The Hyuuga heiress meanwhile had other problems, being fiercely hugged by Naruto, had certain effects on her. The bluenette's face had turned a dark shade of neon red and she was already on the verge of fainting. Finally her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell unconscious.

Their sensei couldn't suppress a giggle as she saw the female teammate going limp in Naruto's arms and then watching said blond going all panic over the girl's blackout. However she had no idea how she should explain this event to him, without exposing a certain degree of the Hyuuga's feelings to him.

A panic-stricken Naruto had placed the bluenette on the ground and was currently trying to wake her up from her sudden coma. He had placed his hand on her forehead in an attempt to feel, if she had fever, after all her head was very, very red. Then he tried to shake her awake, but nothing had worked so far.

"Naruto-san, you should avoid close body contact with Hinata for now, she is an extremely shy person and it takes her awhile to get comfortable around a new comrade, like you. Just let her rest for now, because she will wake up by herself eventually." The monotonous voice of the Aburame calmed Naruto down.

The blond had his hands behind his head and rubbed his neck sheepishly. "I'm sorry for that, just got overwhelmed, I think." He remembered how Deidara had found out about his tenant.

_FLASHBACK_

_Both blonds were currently walking side by side through a tundra like landscape in the Land of Frost. They had just crossed the borders from Lightning Country to Frost two days ago without problems. _

_Out of the blue Deidara dropped the bombshell onto his unsuspecting companion. "You're a jinchuuriki, aren't you, Naruto?" _

_The blond genin immediately tripped and fell face first into the cold dirt. At first it looked like he was in a catatonic state, but then as fast as he had fallen down, the boy was on his legs again, staring with barely hidden fear into his counterparts eyes. "I don't know what you are talking about Dei-sensei."_

"_No need to lie about this to me, I had already contact to two demon hosts before I met you. One of them could even be described as my friend, so it's not like I would hate you for your burden, un" The bomber clarified._

_Naruto's face instantly brightened up. "You... you don't hate me? You promise?" _

"_Sure I promise it, if that's what you want. So which one is it?" Asked a curious Deidara._

"_The Nine Tails, Kyuubi." Replied the genin cautiously. "How did you find out about it, sensei?"_

_The missing nin chuckled hard. "Really? Naruto, you can make twice as much shadow clones as I, you have stamina like a herd of wild bulls and lastly I have seen how fast your bruises and cuts heal after our training sessions." Deidara took a small breath before he continued with his explanation. "First I thought it was some sort of kekkai genkai, but in the end the similarities to the other jinchuuriki, I have met, convinced me that your are one. Most hosts have greater chakra and stamina reserves than normal ninja and often some kind of special ability linked to their beast. Did you really think I would abandon you because of something like that?" _

_Small tears of joy trickled down the boy's face. "Thanks that you accepted me, sensei." Naruto spoke between sobs. _

"_Cherish those who accept and understand you kid and try to ignore those who can't. They aren't worth your time." Was the advice Deidara gave him that day._

_FLASHBACK KAI_

After about five minutes in dreamland, Hinata returned to the living. She was embarrassed about the whole incident, but Naruto assured her that he understood her shyness and would try to hold his distance from her, till she would be comfortable enough with him around. It was an arrangement the heiress could live with, for now.

Kurenai rose her voice again, after everything had cooled down. "Are there any other skills I should be aware of Naruto?"

"Hm, I have learned tree and water walking, furthermore I have created a new technique while traveling." A proud Naruto exclaimed.

His new sensei was pleased, he already knew the basic chakra control exercises, she was also quite interested in the new jutsu he mentioned. "Care to show me your new skill?"

The blond nodded eagerly, formed a cross hand seal and yelled "Shadow Clone Jutsu". In a poof of smoke two additional blond genins stood in the training field. Both clones eyed each other carefully. Although Naruto himself didn't seemed to happy about this turn of events, he mumbled something inaudible under his breath and punched one clone out of existence.

The other clone rushed into the middle of the clearing and formed a ram hand sign. He closed his eyes and a second later a small explosion, about one meter in diameter, rocked the training ground. Patches of dirt were blown around and the grass where to clone had stood were burnt slightly.

Naruto's two teammates were astonished about this display and even his sensei was perplex. She knew a vague similar technique was known in the hidden leave village, but that a genin could come up with something like that was a really incredible feat.

Naruto on the other hand was not pleased at all. "My stupid, stupid, stupid chakra control really sucks!" He shouted in anger. Not two seconds later, he had created another clone, the copy already on his way towards the first clone's explosion site.

The second explosion was vastly different. With a deafening bang, dirt was blown through the whole clearing. After the dust had settled down, in the place of the clone was now a circular spot, roughly four to five meters in diameter, where the grass was completely gone and the bare earth below was exposed.

"That was beautiful, 'ttebayo" That was his current maximum for an explosion, if everything worked right. Naruto turned around to face his team only to see all three of them staring in shock at him.

Kurenai was baffled, the first explosion was small but still quite harmful if somebody would get caught in it, but the second one was really different. Everybody in the blast radius would be surely dead and even farther away the debris from the explosion would cause some harm. And the blond genin himself seemed to be ecstatic about it. That could be dangerous, especially if he could make about forty of those explosions.

With a stern voice she started speaking. "Naruto, you won't use this jutsu during training with your comrades, you could kill them easily with such a destructive power. In fact I want you to be really careful with this technique."

"Understood sensei." Naruto replied calmly, he knew himself that this jutsu wasn't something to play around with and he had to use it cautiously around others.

"Now I want to know what was your problem at the first time and why did you rant about your chakra control?" His sensei inquired.

"You see Kurenai-sensei, I have so much chakra that my control is really horrible. I hardly get the number of clones I want most times one more or less than expected appears, it takes me about one or two seconds to concentrate the chakra for the detonation and sometimes, like in my first try, the explosion is just a dud." Naruto explained his situation.

"I think I understand your problems, anything else you want to show me?" The black haired jonin asked patiently.

"How about my first self-created jutsu, dattebayo?" Naruto was now all hyper and happy again with the possibility to showoff another of his skills.

"Sure, why not." Kurenai was positively surprised by the blond. He had already two self made techniques at such a young age. Probably he was a diamond in the rough after all.

Hearing he exchange of words, Hinata blushed heavily and Shino paled, both knew what kind of skill Naruto wanted to display now. They had seen the jutsu several times during the academy, mostly at Iruka- or Mizuki-sensei's expenses. This would surely get some undesirable reaction from their sensei.

A shout of "Sexy Jutsu" later a naked blond beauty hulled in wisps of smokes stood in the clearing.

Kurenai paled, what kind of indecent jutsu was that? She punched Naruto softly on the head and the transformation disappeared. "Are you some kind of pervert already, what use should such a jutsu have?" She shouted at her charge.

The blond laughed sheepishly, while holding the small bump on his head. "Hey, that knocked even the old man out. It's very effective against most men. The perfect prank jutsu indeed."

The jonin sweat dropped, the blond was not a pervert, just a mischief maker after all. And in some way he was right, against most men it could work quite well, still she disliked the whole idea of the jutsu. "You won't use that thing will around me again, understood?" She gave him an angry glare, will she spoke.

The scared genin, nodded his head vigorously. "Won't do that again, understood, sensei."

"If this is everything we will meet here again, tomorrow morning 8.00 AM for training. Good night, you three." With those last words Kurenai left the training ground, Shino and Hinata followed her right away, all three making their way back to the village.

Naruto meanwhile remained in the clearing, first he wanted to follow his new team, but then he remembered that he had no where to go. He started to drift into his thoughts. Where should he go? No hotel would allow him to stay, he could probably ask Iruka-sensei for a place to sleep or go to the Hokage, who would then organize something for him. But was that really what he wanted, relying completely on somebody else to solve all his problems?

His eyes drifted towards his backpack, which he had placed under on of the trees surrounding the training ground, when he had arrived first here. That was the time he made his decision. For now, he would continue to live like he had for the last two months. He could camp somewhere in the woods nearby using his sleeping back. It wasn't the most comfortable solution, but nobody would disturb him out here and he could train whenever he wanted. Not a bad deal after all.

* * *

Hinata had arrived at the Hyuuga compound after twenty minutes of walking. The bluenette moved through the compound, while a small smile adorning her lips. Today she was in a really good mood, Naruto was alive and had returned to Konoha. But the best part was, that he was now her new teammate, probably this would finally give her the chance she sought for so long. Soon she was starting to think about all the new possibilities, that had opened up.

The stern voice of Hiashi Hyuuga brought her back from her daydreaming. "Daughter, care to explain why you seem so happy today?"

Under the cold gaze of her father, Hinata started to squirm. "M-My team g-got fin-ally a third m-member t-tou-san." The young heiress stuttered out.

Her father gave only a small nod, before he started to speak again. "Can't you get rid of your annoying stuttering habit, this is embarrassing for a proud Hyuuga of your standing. So who is this new teammate?"

Hinata looked down, her father had ridiculed her again, couldn't he be more supportive of her? "Uz-um-aki N-Nar-uto" She could hear, that her father took in a sharp breath of air.

"You shouldn't associated with such a person, he is far beneath you, I hope you remember that, child. Furthermore he is dangerous and unpredictable." Lectured the ice cold voice of Hiashi his daughter.

"B-Because o-of the Ky-uubi, tou-san?" Hinata asked fearfully.

"So they told you about IT, you should know what to do. Remember to not disgrace our clan Hinata." That were his parting words to her, before he turned around an left.

After the encounter with her father Hinata had lost all hunger she had, she marched straightway to her room and then started to make herself ready for the night. Her good spirit was already dampening.

Her Father had to put her down again, her self esteem was already quite low, but still Hiashi Hyuuga could always put another dent into it. Furthermore he was like most of the village, hating her idol for something which was totally out of Naruto's control. A part of her wanted to cry, but she refused to give into that desire. Till that meeting with her father her day had gone really well, she wouldn't let him put her down so much. At least she could speak and interact with Naruto constantly from now on, there was nothing her father could do against that. With those thoughts Hinata fell asleep.

* * *

Three days had passed since Naruto's return. Everyday he had spent with training, mostly trust and teamwork exercises with Hinata and Shino, to integrate him better into his new team. Both of them were kinda weird, but he started to like them. One or two D-rank mission after their daily training. He still lived in the woods surrounding Training Ground Forty-Two, he had sent a few transformed clones out everyday to get him food and what else he needed from the village.

The first day he also had gone to Iruka-sensei and gotten a list of books, which he should have read already during his academy days. Naruto sent a transformed clone to the public library since then and the copy of him read one book a day and dispelled in the evening. After that the blond always had a headache for about half an hour.

Kurenai-sensei had shown him the basics to dispel genjutsu, something he had failed almost epically to reproduce. With his enormous chakra reserves and low chakra control he was quite susceptible to genjutsus. Furthermore he had learned through his sensei, that he probably would never be able to use any of the illusionarytechniques at all, they needed almost as precise control as medical jutsus. That was nothing he was too sad about though, he was more a man for solid arguments and not some mind tricks.

Today would finally be the first day were he could spar with his teammates. Naruto was excited, he could test his skills against theirs. He had no illusions though, without his explosions and his meager taijutsu abilities, he would have to work hard to put up a decent fight against them.

In his first fight he would have to face Hinata. Both stood at the opposite side of the clearing, while Shino and their sensei would watch the fight from the sidelines. His Hyuuga opponent stood in her juken stance while Naruto was quite relaxed, his hands already forming his favorite hand sign.

"No clones, Naruto. I want to judge your combat abilities and yours alone. You can begin anytime you want." Said the black haired jonin with a hint of glee.

The young genin now was almost sweating bullets, his clone had read a book about Konoha's clans yesterday and now he knew perfectly what kind of skills the Hyuuga had. Without clones he was so dead, still he wouldn't give up without fighting back, so he slipped into his impromptu stance and waited for Hinata's attack. Moving in first without his support army wold be suicide.

The Hyuuga girl meanwhile eyed him carefully, her bloodline limit already activated. She wasn't sure what to do, because she didn't want to hurt Naruto and after Kurenai-sensei forbade him the use of shadow clones he was an easy target now.

"Come on Hinata, show me how strong you are, no need to hold back, I can take quite a few hits." The blond shouted across the clearing.

With this sort of encouragement Hinata rushed forward towards her adversary. She was greeted by a barrage of kunai and shuriken. With steps to the right and left the girl almost danced around the flying weapons. As soon as she was in melee range, she started her onslaught. The first few strikes were blocked by Naruto, still they closed some of the tenketsu points in his arms. His movement started to slow down and then she crushed his defense. Seconds later he was lying on the ground with a pain contorted face.

Everyone was shocked, Shino and Kurenai had never seen the girl so enthusiastic and skillful in a fight. Naruto was shocked at how easy he was defeated and Hinata was scared that the blond would hate her now, because she had humiliated him.

The downed genin started to sit up and looked at the Hyuuga girl with amazement in his eyes. "That was awesome Hinata!" He shouted elated and gave her a thumbs up.

At his sudden compliment the bluenette blushed a deep shade of red and fainted with an "Eeep", a small smile adorning her face.

Naruto started to panic. "I swear I didn't do anything this time! I didn't even touch her, Shino help me, come on!"

The Aburame meanwhile moved over to Hinata, even though he knew why she blacked out, he still wanted to check on her condition.

Kurenai could only smile at the interaction between her team She was sure the blond was a gain for the them after all. Hinata was never this open before and even Shino seemed more lively. The jonin was keen to find out how the blond enigma would change them all. For better or worse.

* * *

A/N: The amount of clones is toned down a bit, but fifty walking bombs is still quite much and compared to the fact that nobody else in the Narutoverse can make even fifty without dieing it seems more realistic than the couple of hundreds that Naruto throws around as fresh genin.

Naruto won't abuse the memory trick with the clones, because I hate how writers generally use it to overpower him in a few chapters. He probably will read a book a day or so though, sooner or later starting his fuinjutsu training through the use of one clone a day to read and practice the handwriting.

This chapter showed also one of his weaknesses with the exploding clones, with his poor chakra control, sometimes they backfire, at least for now. Naruto will gain different types of clones and different methods to detonate them. This will evolve into a new type of jutsu, a combination of shadow clones and transformation.

By the way, Naruto blew up Deidara's shadow clone if you couldn't guess it. Deidara had learned the technique through Naruto, to better help him with creating an explosion.

Next chapter will be a bit more training and their first C-Rank, you will see the more mature, darker side of Naruto then. Plus his nindo, it will be different, but still trying to stay true to his motivation.

If everything works as I planned it the next chapter should be due on Sunday this week.


	4. Chapter 3, Bloody Work

**Chapter 3: Bloody Work**

The first week of the new Team 8 had passed without major incidents, if you don't count the rare fainting spells of one Hinata Hyuuga. The three genin and their jonin-sensei had met each day around 8.00 AM in Training Ground Forty-Two and stayed there for their exercises till about 2.00 PM. After a half hour lunch break, they usually completed one or two D-rank missions, before calling it a day.

Today Kurenai had dismissed her team, after the usual routine and told them, that tomorrow they would have their day off, to do whatever each of them wanted to do.

Konoha's ninja worked normally six days a week with the the seventh day per week off, to relax. This system was created by Tobirama Senju, the Nidaime Hokage, more than fifty years ago. The schedule had proven it's worth, the rate of overworked ninjas had severely decreased since it was installed. The days off were assigned to each person or team by a special office, that coordinated everything, so that at each day more than 80% of the shinobi were available. Under special conditions, like in wartime, the system could be suspended, to gain the maximum available manpower.

Currently Kurenai Yuhi was standing in the office of the Sandaime Hokage, waiting to give her leader the requested report on the newest addition to Team 8.

The aged man rose his voice. "You can start with your assessment on Uzumaki Naruto, whenever you are ready, Kurenai."

"First of, the most important part of my analysis, for now there are no heavy indicators that he is a spy or sleeper agent of any foreign power. Although I will continue my surveillance for awhile to be sure of my first impression, five days aren't enough to come to a final conclusion. Some of his behavior patterns seemed to have changed over his extended absence. If you are ready Hokage-sama, I would now go into a more detailed report on my findings." The black haired jonin stopped at this point, letting the information sink in.

Sarutobi gave her a small nod, indicating she could continue with her review.

"The current file on Naruto isn't really accurate anymore Hokage-sama. He is still hyperactive, although less than expected, easy excitable and a happy nature, but beneath that the boy appears to be more mature and smarter than his records would indicate. For example, on our first team meeting, Naruto insisted on telling his new comrades about his burden. Claiming, that they would sooner or later experience him using the demon's chakra and if they didn't know about it, it could be an obstacle in battle. Hinata and Shino took the news fairly well, realizing that even though the boy has the Kyuubi sealed in him, he is nothing more than a human being with a heavy burden."

Kurenai had given the Hokage a small pause to think over the said before resuming her explanation, "Naruto's lively nature loosened up both of his comrades, over the last few days. Hinata was always shy and has a problem with her confidence. Shino on the other hand, is mostly silent and observant, like all Aburame. The changes in them are currently small, but after spending more than three months with both, I could still notice them."

"The boy always had the talent to brighten up people, if only more would allow it." The leader said in a sad tone. Sarutobi took a puff on his smoking pipe. "Do you think they will be ready for the chunin exam, next month? Asuma and Kakashi already told me, they plan to enter their teams."

"There are only four weeks left, Hokage-sama. I will only support their participation, if I know they are ready. When they can complete a minimum of three C-rank mission to my satisfaction and all of them have overcome the experience of their first kill, then I will enter them." The jonin answered the question with a stern expression.

"Your reasoning is understandable, those exams are quite deadly and we don't want to loose any hopeful genin. Team 7 and 10 have more field experience than your three genin, furthermore Kakashi's team did really well since their recreation. Very likely, that they are the best rookie team we have this year. " The Sandaime was pleased with her review and considered, if everything was discussed between him and the jonin-sensei. "Anything else I should know, Kurenai?"

The black haired jonin wanted to tell the Hokage about Naruto's new living arrangement, but she had promised the boy, she wouldn't tell anybody, that the blond currently lived in the woods surrounding Training Ground Forty-Two. Kurenai didn't like the fact, that she had to use a little white lie on her superior, however she had to uphold the bond of trust between teacher and student, or the blond probably would forever distrust her. The female decided she could at least tell the Hokage about Naruto's new passion for explosions.

"There is one other thing, that is mentionable, Naruto created a way to detonate his shadow clones. A quite dangerous technique, even though it is still not fully mature. Also he has taken an excessive liking to blow up things. Training Ground Forty-Two has no green patches of grass anymore, the whole clearing consists of small craters, burnt grass or exposed earth. If this is not a problem, I would request that this training ground will be off limits for everyone, besides my team. So we can contain Naruto's path of destruction on one location."

The Hokage pondered on the said, before he nodded. "Request approved, please watch over him and control his new explosive vandalism, Kurenai. You're dismissed, if this was everything."

With a small bow, the black haired jonin, left the Hokage's office. Leaving the old leader alone with his thoughts and his cursed paperwork.

* * *

It was a good thing Training Ground Forty-Two was located quite far away from Konoha. The sound of Naruto's explosions otherwise would have scared the villagers shitless. The blond had spent his whole day off there training. Starting with some chakra control exercises, then letting about thirty of his clones explode trying to refine his detonation technique and after all that, he worked on one of the ideas he had concerning a new jutsu.

The last few days with his new team were eye-opening for him. Team 8 was vastly different from what he was used to on Team 7. Both Sakura and Sasuke never really got completely comfortable around him, while his new team seemed to accept him easier. So he started comparing his old and his new team in his mind.

Sasuke always was the broody avenger, never talking to anybody more than he had to, most days a frown etched onto his face. The Uchiha was comparable to Shino in some ways, but even though the Aburame didn't speak much, he never made Naruto feel like he was beneath him, the way Sasuke normally liked to do. And when Shino spoke, he was helpful and friendly, at least Naruto believed this, he couldn't really read any emotions from the bug user at all.

Hinata and Sakura were as different as day and night. Naruto always had liked the pinkette, in retrospective it was hard to fathom why sometimes. It wasn't like he didn't like her now, but if he thought about the way she treated him, a cold shiver run down his spine. Hinata on the other hand, she was weird, but in a good way. She didn't hit or insult him, she stuttered fairly strong and sometimes fainted if he got to near or because of other reasons he didn't quite understand, but she was a nice person, even if extremely shy.

Probably, he had a chance that Shino and Hinata would become his friends, they were really nice after all and even had accepted him, despite being told about the Kyuubi sealed in him. The thought of someday calling his teammates friends, brought a small smile on his face. His thoughts drifted towards another matter at hand.

Over the course of the last days, Naruto had learned something interesting. He noticed it while having lunch with his team. The fact that he was having meals with his teammates and sensei everyday was also something new for him, something he really enjoyed.. Never once he was thrown out of any restaurant while with them. The service personnel didn't like him, he could see that much, often giving him hateful stares, but he was still served without to many problems.

After that experience he tried out to enter shops and restaurants alone. The same business he wasn't allowed in, when he was still an academy student. It got him a similar result, than what he had experienced with his team. He could now enter and use their services without to much troubles. The conclusion for him was, that as genin he could use all shops and restaurants, but would still receive the hateful glares and insults. For now Naruto settled with the solution of using the Transformation Jutsu, whenever he was not with his team, because so he could escape their hostilities with ease.

One would think the blond would by now be accustomed to the treatment the majority of the village gave him, but after his return, it was harder to deal with for him. Mainly because during his travels outside of Konoha, he never once had to endure any hostilities, he was just a normal boy, something he missed dearly now.

With this new knowledge in mind, Naruto considered his housing situation. As genin he should be able to get a flat or something similar somewhere in the city, but was that really what he wanted? If he lived in Konoha, he would have to endure all the mental and verbal abuse again. That was something he currently avoided quite well, he only entered Konoha with his team, or using transformed clones, and as long as he was in their company, people behaved well during those times.

For now he settled with the conclusion, that he wasn't sure what to do and that he would have to reconsider the whole topic again some other day. He would continue living in the woods out here for a while, before coming to a final decision. It wasn't so bad out here, he had a tent and his sleeping bag, his transformed clones could get him everything he needed and his team's training ground was right on the doorstep.

At the end of his day off, Naruto exhausted fell into a deep slumber. Another reason it was good that the training grounds were far away from Konoha, because the blond snored fairly loud, scaring away almost all wildlife in the forest nearby.

* * *

The next day, Team 8 fell back into their normal training routine. Kurenai practiced breaking out of genjutsus with Naruto again, the usual hour a day, this was their daily schedule till the blond was able to counter everything his sensei threw at him.

While this hour, Shino and Hinata spared against each other. Then they would switch and Kurenai would give another of her students a personal one hour session, until all three genin had had individual training. The other three hours were spent with group maneuvers, tactics and some more team bonding.

During the usual sparing matches Naruto had learned, that Hinata was the best of them with taijutsu. Normally she won against both her teammates, if the fights didn't drag out to long. Otherwise Naruto could tire her out with his shadow clones and Shino would drain her chakra with his kikaichu bugs.

Against Naruto although draining the chakra with his bugs proofed to be a tedious process, giving Shino a disadvantages in his battles with the blond. While the Aburame's taijutsu was slightly above Naruto's, his adversary had numbers on his side. The matches between those two were always balanced and drawn out, often ending in a tie.

Team 8 had already completed their three hour sparing program and was ready to start the second part of their daily routine as Naruto rose his voice. "Hey Hinata, I have a question about your fighting style, if that's OK for you?"

"S-Sure, Nar-uto-k-kun, w-what is it?" The shy heiress answered.

The blond made a concentrated face before he asked again. "Is there some special reason why you usually don't use any ranged weapons? With your Byakugan's abilities, I thought you would be really good with throwing weapons and such stuff."

Hinata's face flushed a bit at the words of praise she and her bloodline received from the blond boy. "M-my clan i-is specialized in m-melee fighting, also my o-own s-skills with ku-nai and sh-shuriken aren't t-that good." She replied a bit embarrassed, while fidgeting with her fingers.

Naruto gave her an encouraging smile, which only increased Hinata's uneasiness. "Even when your family are masters of martial arts, you shouldn't limit yourself to only one way of fighting." The jinchuuriki got into a thinking pose for a few seconds, remembering a certain encounter he had in Wave Country. Then he started to speak again. "Ever tried senbon? Those pesky needles can be really dangerous, 'ttebayo!"

Kurenai had observed the discussion between her students. Naruto's idea had some good points, so it wouldn't hurt to test out, if the girl could use senbon needles to her advantage. "He could be right Hinata, this is something you should try out." The black haired jonin pulled out about ten needles from one of her pouches and handed them to the Hyuuga. "Watch me carefully I will show you how to use them."

After roughly five minutes of instruction, Hinata was ready to give the senbon a try. She activated her bloodline and focused her eyes on a tree about twenty meters away from her current location. Using the throwing technique her sensei had showed her, she launched the needle at the target. The senbon hit spot on, the middle of the tree trunk and sunk in about half a centimeter. Throw after throw the bluenette shot out the small metal spikes at her target, not one missed and in the end all ten of them were embedded in the surrounding of the first, none farther away than fifteen centimeters.

"That was awesome!" An exuberant Naruto shouted through the clearing. "I knew you could do it." A part of Naruto wanted to give the girl an encouraging pat on the shoulder, but he remembered her shyness problem and refrained from doing it.

"Excellent display of your abilities, Hinata." Praised the ever stoic Aburame, you could almost see a small smile on his face.

"You are a natural Hinata, that was very good, especially for a beginner." Congratulated Kurenai her student.

Hearing all those complements from her team, really embarrassed the Hyuuga girl, her face was quite flushed. Still this would forever mark the day, when Hinata Hyuuga discovered her passion for throwing small metal needles at her enemies. It was also the day her comrades came to curse after having to play the target for her studies.

* * *

The second week progressed much the same for Team 8 as the first, the only real change was Hinata's new training schedule with her pointy metal spikes. The girl spent the rest of her personal training sessions with Kurenai, on throwing senbon and currently carried about two-hundred of them around with her.

All of the usual routine should change in the third week although. Punctual 8.00 AM their sensei walked into Training Ground Forty-Two, a mission file in her hands.

"You have already acquired us a mission for today Kurenai-sensei?" Shino was the first one to ask.

The black haired jonin gave every genin a sheet of paper, containing a small briefing on their assignment. "Today Hokage-sama had a C-Rank mission for us."

Naruto, Hinata and even Shino seemed to be excited about this news. The Hyuuga and the Aburame had only done one simply C-rank, an escort mission, before Kiba was moved to Team 7. Both were more than happy to finally do something else, after three months of only D-ranks.

The blond jinchuuriki couldn't hide his enthusiasm, he hadn't complained about the chores his team had to do, but that didn't mean he liked them.

Kurenai started to speak again. "In the surroundings of Tanzaku, a notorious gambling city in the Land of Fire, an increase in robberies during the last month was reported. We are to investigate this activities and if possible stop the criminals behind them. Pack for roughly two weeks. Meet me at the main gates in two hours. " And with that Team 8 sensei vanished in a cloud of smoke, leaving only floating leaves behind.

Not even two hours later Team 8 was on their way to their first C-Rank mission. Hopefully ready for the challenges ahead of them.

* * *

Kurenai and her team reached Tanzaku after three days of uneventful travel. While their sensei spoke to the authorities, she had instructed the three genin to gather information from the locals. The genin had split gain as much information as possible in the short time.

An hour later Team 8 was reassembled. "Did you find out anything helpful?" Asked Kurenai her genin.

"Not much sensei, there are some rumors, that the culprits hide in the woodlands to the south." Replied Naruto.

"The last attack occurred two days ago, on the road that leads towards the Land of Rivers. Four travelers were robbed and killed." Was the Aburame's answer.

"I t-talked to a p-pair of h-hunters sensei, they s-saw a gr-group of at l-least sev-en men lu-rking through the woods."

Kurenai gave her team a kind smile. "You three did well. We will start with the last crime scene."

It didn't take them to long to reach the spot of the last attack, the road was stained with several dark red and black spots. The ground had several scratches and other marks which indicated, that some kind of fight occurred here. A foul smell of dead lingered over the whole place.

Hinata had turned almost white after seeing this place, together with the strong smell it took her quite some control to keep her food inside.

"You can stay back, if you want Hinata. No need to see all of this." Kurenai comforted her. The jonin knew that the girl had to get comfortable with such sights sooner or later, but for now she could try to go easy on her.

Meanwhile Naruto was examining the dried pools of blood. There were four of them, one for each victim, by the size of it, each of them had at least lost three liters blood. Whoever did this, enjoyed his work far to much, even common thieves could kill quicker with less bloodshed. Those robbers had to be really sickening individuals.

"Sensei I think I found a trail,why you ask? Because my kikaichu have detected a faint trace of blood, leading to the south." Shino spoke calmly, if the blood and smell did disturb him, he didn't show it.

"Good, we move on in diamond formation. Shino you lead, Hinata you take the right side, Naruto the left, I am at the back. Hinata activate your Byakugan periodically to survey the surroundings." Kurenai gave them a hand signal and all three genin started to move forward, following Shino's lead.

The team had moved for several hours through dense forest area, following the blood trail. Suddenly Hinata raised her hand, everybody stopped. "A small camp, about hundred meters in our current direction. Seven men, no ninja." She whispered barely hearable.

"Hinata, Shino give me cover with ranged attacks, I will attack with ten to fifteen clones and take them out, that should be the safest approach. What do you say sensei?" Naruto had taken charge and told his plan to the others.

Kurenai thought about it for a few seconds before, giving the blond a nod, it was a sound plan. The team started to move forward again, slowly approaching their targets.

In a glade stood 5 tents surrounding a small fire place. The bandits were sitting around drinking and joking, unsuspecting of the coming attack. The members of Team 8 meanwhile had positioned themselves north of the camp. Hinata and Shino had climbed a tree and waited for Naruto's signal to attack. Naruto waited hidden behind a tree for the right moment and their sensei observed them all veiled by a genjutsu.

The blond genin, gave a wink with his hand and the hail of iron began. Hinata started throwing senbon and Shino's shuriken ripped through the air. At the same time twelve blond copies appeared in the glade.

As the first throwing weapons hit their targets, the bandit camp sprung into action. Shouts could be heard and the men tried to take cover behind their leather tents. One of them collapsed paralyzed before he could hide himself, more than twenty needles stuck from his torso and limbs.

All of Naruto's clones now rushed the camp, his teammates stopped their attack to not accidental hit the blond copies. Soon the remaining six thugs were surrounded by the twelve clones.

"Give up and I don't have to kill you bastards, dattebayo." One of the blonds said with an ice cold voice.

The leader of the band, swung a big one-handed, bloody axe at said copy, who easily dodged the attack. "Shut up, brat. First we will skin you and than the rest of your team, I hope you all bled well." The dirty thug shouted at them.

"You know what to do." Yelled the original. As soon as those words were spoken all clones formed a ram sign and started to concentrate their chakra. The bandits started their counterattack, but it was already to late for them. Three clones were destroyed before the explosions started. Five detonations rocked the clearing.

After the dust had settled Team 8 could see the gruesome sight before them. Blood and body parts were strewn around. Not one body was intact. Torn of limbs and shattered heads littered the ground, a smell of burning flesh hard in the nose. Some fleshy parts had even hit the trees surrounding the glade.

As soon as she saw the massacre Hinata stormed away, her face ashen, tears running down her face. The Hyuuga girl surely was going to vomit out everything, she had eaten today.

Kurenai was shocked, she hadn't expected the blond to be so brutal. There would have been other ways to subdue the enemy without relying on tearing them apart. It was effective but cruel. She had seen many things in the Third Shinobi World War and certainly the clearing reminded her of those times, when war raged through the Elemental Nations. After those thoughts the black haired jonin followed her fleeing student, trying to comfort the distraught girl.

Shino meanwhile could only stare in wonder at the blond. Without blinking an eye, he had killed seven men in one of the most gruesome ways possible and he didn't seem to be affected by it at all. Even the ever-stoic Aburame was disgusted by the sight before him.

Naruto in the meantime was walking across the glade, making his way to the crater he had created. He looked through what was left of his adversaries and their camp, trying to gauge if there was anything of value or importance left. After finding nothing he returned to Shino's side. None of them spoke a single word till their sensei returned.

* * *

"Hinata?" Shouted a concerned Kurenai, she had lost the sight of her female charge. Soon she found the girl leaning on a tree, puking her innards out. The jonin put her hand comforting on the Hyuuga's shoulder, in an attempt to comfort her.

After a few minutes Hinata was finished with emptying her bowels. Tear were still streaming down her face. "H-he k-k-killed them." She stammered out.

"H-he sl-slaughtered them. N-N-Na-Naruto, slaughtered them all." Hinata shouted in anguish.

Kurenai embraced the girl, it was the only thing she could do now, this sight was nothing a rookie genin should see. Hinata had returned the embrace and was now crying her eyes out, while holding onto her sensei. After standing locked in each others arms for awhile, the girl finally had loosened her grip, letting go of Kurenai. The Hyuuga had stopped crying but now looked like a mess.

"Wait here Hinata, I will get the others. It's better if you don't have to see that again. I will be back soon." With that Kurenai left the girl alone.

After vomiting and crying Hinata was deep in thought. In fact she hadn't even recognized that her sensei had left. This was her Naruto-kun? What had happened to him? She was happy since he had returned, they were on the same team, something she had only dreamed of. She saw him almost everyday now, yes he was a bit different, but that was to be expected after being so long away. But now the blond boy scared her. How could the nice guy she admired be so coldhearted and brutal in combat?

A few minutes later, Kurenai, Shino and Naruto returned. The black haired jonin had found them standing near the glade, non had spoken a word. She could see that even Shino was shocked, but Naruto looked kind of relaxed, like this whole ordeal was nothing for him. Kurenai had used a Katon Jutsu to incinerate the remains and then guided her two genin back to Hinata.

Hinata couldn't look at her blond crush, as he came into view. Naruto could see the fear in her eyes as she turned away, it was the kind of reaction he had anticipated. But he couldn't delay this event, that was the way he was now, either they would accept him or hate him for it.

"What did you do out there, Naruto, that wasn't necessary." Kurenai finally broke the silence between them.

"That's the way I'm fighting. Did you three think the explosions were for show?" Naruto shot back. "Nobody of us got hurt, the mission is a success, I'm sorry that you had to see this massacre I made. But if I shall remain a part of this team, you must get accustomed to my way of fighting. Explosions are messy."

"Still there was no need for your actions, we could have taken them down without ripping them apart!" Kurenai could see why the blond did, what he did, but she couldn't approve of it. It was uncalled for.

Naruto gave his sensei an angry glare. "You read the report about the Wave Country mission, I assume?" The blond didn't wait for his sensei's answer before he continued. "A so called harmless mission got us nearly killed, I thought Sasuke was dead back then. There is no gurantee for anything." Naruto took a deep breath. "I will do EVERYTHING necessary to protect my comrades, those who are important to me. Because that is my nindo, 'ttebayo!" The blond turned around and started walking in slow pace towards Tanzaku.

Hinata, Shino and even Kurenai could only stare at Naruto. He butchered their enemies, to ensure their safety? His sensei didn't know how to reply to that, seeing his teammate nearly die on his first C-Rank mission and than traveling the world alone, must have been a hard experience for somebody that young. It seems that now he would do everything possible to ensure that nothing like that ever happened again.

Soon the rest of Team 8 followed their blond haired teammate, nothing was spoken, all of them were deep in thought about the events that transpired in the forest.

* * *

A/N: Great thanks, to all my supporters and fans. Never I would have dreamed that my first story would be so successful. Already more than 3000 views, over 90 followers and a bunch of reviews for every chapter I write, I hope I can uphold the standard of the story.

If you find I wrote characters OOC, found a grammar error or just want to give constructive critic, write a review or pm me personally, generally I will reply to any questions you have within 1 to 3 days, or in the next chapter's author note.

The part at the start of the chapter with the working schedule seemed a bit to bureaucratic, but I always thought that, Konoha must have something like that. I highly doubt a team leader can give his whole team a leave without the consent of some higher ups. So bear my solution.

Yes, Hinata will be morphed into a ranged style fighter, relying on senbon. I like the idea of Team 8 being a ranged unit, they still have Naruto's clones and Hinata's Juken for close quarters, but will mainly rely on ranged attacks later on. (Naruto's clone explosion are more a ranged attack for me!) It suits a tracking and information gathering team better in my opinion if they attack from afar.

The next time on "Art is an Explosion, dattebayo!" The aftermath of Bloody Work, reunion with the new Team 7, meeting Neji and Team 9 and the first real NaruHina moment.


	5. Chapter 4, Naruto's Motives

**Chapter 4: Naruto's Motives**

Dusk was already falling, as Team 8 finally reached the outskirts of Tanzaku. Nobody had spoken a word on the whole track, back to the town. After Naruto's outburst everybody else on his team was absorbed in their own thoughts and the blond himself wasn't in the mood for any conversations. His face was contorted to a constant frown and the normally shining blue eyes looked dull.

Kurenai had decided, that it was already to late for them to start their homeward journey towards Konoha, so they needed to find a place to stay for the night. It didn't take them long to find a nice hotel for an overnight stay.

The three young ninja, meanwhile waited in the lobby, while their sensei finished the necessary arrangements. As soon as the jonin had handed each genin a room key, Naruto started walking away from their lodging.

"Where you think you are you going, Naruto?" Asked a his concerned sensei with a stern voice.

"Blowing off some steam." The blonds voice was cold, but filled with hidden anger. His comrades could only stare at his retreating back as he slowly vanished from their sight.

Ten minutes later the remains of Team 8 were assembled in their sensei's hotel room. Kurenai had offered them a chance to talk about what had happened in the woods, an offer that Shino and Hinata gladly accepted. And so the jonin and her two genin were sitting in the room, nobody was sure how to start the conversation.

Following five minutes of awkward silence, Hinata finally asked the first question. "S-S-Sensei, w-why did N-N-Naruto-k-kun think it was, necessary to k-k-kill them all?" The Hyuuga girl had thought about the blonds words, but couldn't fully understand, why he thought it was the best to slaughter their adversaries, to protect his team from harm.

"This is the main question here Hinata, because our enemies were never a real threat to us. Also I would like to know what happened on Naruto-san's mission to Wave Country, why that interests me? Because it seems that his experiences there are part of his reason for acting like he did." Agreed Shino.

The black haired jonin took a deep breath, while their journey back to the city she had mused how she could explain Naruto's actions to her other two charges, while she herself didn't fully understand him. "The only thing I can tell you about the mission to Wave, is what you already heard. Naruto thought that Sasuke was killed by their enemy, he probably blames himself for what happened. If you want to know more, you have to ask him, it is not my place to speak more about those events."

Shino and Hinata were disappointed, they thought they could learn more about the blond's motivations. "I-Is t-there anything, you c-can tell u-us, sensei?"

"Naruto cares about us, I know that much. You heard his nindo, he is willing to do everything to protect the people important to him, which seems to include us three." Kurenai made a small pause before continuing. "I hope you two still can work together with him, even after seeing him do something so gruesome." Their sensei said in a serious tone.

The young genin were shocked by this question. They had heard what Naruto said, about remaining on their team. But never had they thought, that Kurenai would consider his proposal about leaving them.

"Sensei, Naruto-san is still our teammate. Even if Hinata and I are troubled by his brutal display, this is no reason to suspend him, why you may think? Because we should be able to sort out this problem between us in time." Shino spoke with full conviction.

"S-S-Shino is right, Kurenai-sensei. P-Please don't remove N-N-Naruto-kun from our team." Hinata couldn't say she wasn't affected by how Naruto had acted, but she still didn't want him to leave their team. Deep down the Hyuuga girl knew, the blond was not a bad person, that was the unwavering truth she believed in. He must have some good reasons to act like he did, she only had to find out why?

The black haired jonin gave them a reassuring smile. "Both of you are really mature already, I needed to know if you still can work together. For now Naruto will stay with us. You two should go to bed, meanwhile I will look for our favorite blond teammate."

* * *

About twenty minutes later Kurenai was standing in a wooden area on the edge of Tanzaku. It wasn't to hard to find Naruto, his strong chakra signature wasn't easy to overlook, even for somebody who wasn't a sensor type. What she found wasn't what she had expected. Kurenai had thought the blond would literally blow off his anger through some explosions, wrecking in chaos somewhere. But he was sitting in the grass, eyes closed, seemingly meditating.

"Wondered when you would come looking for me." The blond spoke in a monotonous voice, as he raised himself from the floor. He looked calm and collected, quite different from when he had left them behind.

The jonin could now see, that in one of his hands the boy had about ten stone marbles of different size. "What were you doing out here, Naruto?"

The blond slipped the stones into one of his belt pouches and then zipped up his robe. "Some chakra control exercise I learned while traveling. Really relaxing. So you are here to tell me, that you kick me from your team, because of my dangerous behavior?"

Kurenai sighed loud. "I'm not happy about your actions, but you were right on some accounts. Nobody got hurt and you completed the mission, furthermore I have talked with Shino and Hinata, both still want you on the team. But you should explain yourself sooner or later, they want some answers, the same goes for me. One more thing, you won't be using your explosions without my approval on missions, understood?"

Naruto was prepared for the worst turn of events, this was much better than he expected though. "I understand." The blond took a long breath. "Please give me a few days, speaking about my motivations is hard for me."

"You have one week, then I want a good explanation." There were still something else on Kurenai's mind, that she wanted to ask the blond. "Those bandits weren't your first kills? You were much to unaffected by their demise."

"You are right, sensei. My first kill probably was in the battle on the bridge, not that I remember anything about that, it was to hectic. The first one I can recall was about one month later, some bounty hunters ambushed me, must have thought I was a missing nin." It wasn't the complete truth but quite near.

_FLASHBACK_

_Naruto and Deidara had almost crossed the Land of Frost, the landscape had slowly changed from vast tundra to a dense coniferous forest. Another two days and the blonds would enter the Land of Hot Water._

_With a low voice the bomber spoke. "We are being followed, be ready for battle, Naruto." The blond genin's reply was only a small hand gesture, meaning he understood the situation. _

_Deidara slipped his hands casually in the pockets of his auburn robe, the tongues of his mouths started devouring some of his special clay. Before the missing nin could bring his hands back out to attack, a shout pierced the silence._

"_Let your hands where they are, don't wanna get caught in one of your explosions, Deidara of Iwa." A gruff voice shouted from behind the two blonds. _

_Naruto and his mentor turned around in an instant, the genin instinctively slipped into his taijutsu stance looking slightly tensed about the events transpiring. Deidara meanwhile was quite relaxed, both his hands still in his pockets. _

_Before the two stood a bunch of dirty, unkempt men, about fifteen of them, looking like common bandits or waylayers."We don't have anything of value, so just go away, 'ttebayo." The blond jinchuuriki shouted at them._

_One of the men, with black hair and a dirty beard started laughing. "Oh, kid we are not robbers, we are here for the big fish." He pointed towards Deidara. "Today is just our lucky day, Iwa pays twenty million ryo for this bastard. I doubt we can get any bounty for you buddy, but probably somebody would buy you as slave, you never know that." The leader laughed harder at the end of his speech._

"_What gives you the impression you can win against us, un?" The former Iwa ninja pulled his hands out from his pockets and trusted the palms forward, towards their adversaries. The hand mouths opened and hundreds of small flying insects were spewed out. The swarm of clay creatures, that vaguely resembled oversized flies, was hovering between the group of bounty hunters and the two blonds. _

"_Shadow Clone Jutsu" Naruto produced five solid clones, which immediately took a defense position before him and Deidara. The copies were facing their enemies, a kunai in each hand._

"_Don't want to reconsider your plans, un?" Asked a grinning Deidara._

_The gang of bounty hunters wasn't intimidated in the slightest about the displays of both ninjas."Get them." The bearded man shouted. As soon as the words had left his mouth, three grenades were thrown and smoke enveloped the battle scene. _

_Both blonds started coughing as the smoke enveloped them. The gray haze burned in the eyes and the lungs and it was hard to breath._

_Deidara grabbed his little apprentice and tried to get out of the smoke cloud, he could feel that whatever this gas was it had a bad effect on him, every second that passed, he felt weaker and more vulnerable. Finally the missing nin broke free from the cloud of gas, he stumbled and collapsed on the ground, dropping Naruto unceremoniously on the hard ground. _

"_Hey sensei, what was that for?" Naruto asked slightly agitated. But he got no response, the blond bomber was having a heavy coughing fit. The blond genin was worried about his mentor, the gas had hindered him to breath freely but it seem to affect Deidara much more than it had him. The feeling that his clones were destroyed, snapped Naruto out of his musings. He had to get battle ready to defend his sensei. _

"_You are still ready to fight, brat?" Spoke the bearded guy as he stepped out of the cloud of smoke, closely followed by his men. _

"_What did you do to him?" Naruto snarled back._

"_The gas you mean? It disrupts one's chakra for a few minutes, quite effective on higher level ninjas. Strange that it didn't work on you, probably you are just to weak." With one quick hand gesture from him, his men started moving forward, towards the two blonds._

_Anger was rising inside of Naruto, those bastards wanted to harm Deidara and the only one who could stop them was he. The boy's eyes flashed between a dark red and his usual blue a few times, before settling on a darker shade of blue than they were normally. Naruto formed a cross hand sign and yelled "Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu". Forty copies of the blond genin flashed into existence, two swiftly grabbed the downed Deidara and run away, while the rest glared at the attackers._

_Naruto followed his two clones carrying his mentor, this time he wasn't going to take any risks. His clones knew what to do, there would be no mercy for hurting one of his important persons. The group of copies surrounded the bounty hunters and every one formed a ram hand sign, then they closed their eyes. _

_A second later a loud rumble pierced the forest and the ground shook slightly. Naruto knew what had happened, he had experienced it from thirty-eight perspectives. Mercilessly he had blown up those bastards, torn them to tiny pieces of blood and flesh, the thought alone made him sick. _

_Fifteen minutes later Deidara was all up again. "What happened?" Was his first question._

"_I killed them, I killed them all." Naruto's voice sounded like he was in despair and he stammered slightly. _

"_Your first time I presume?" Gaining a small nod from the boy, Deidara continued speaking. "Won't sugarcoat it for you, we are shinobi, we kill, simple as that, un. Often it's them or you, doubt you want to die already? And not always the people you kill are the bad guys, sometimes you are the bad guy or nobody is it. If you can't take those facts, you should quit being a ninja. Those are the hard truths of the shinobi life." With those words of advice Deidara left Naruto alone, to ponder his thoughts._

_For the five days Naruto was plagued by nightmares, but in the end he knew Deidara was right, either he learned to deal with the guilt or he had to quit being a ninja, something that was his dream for a very long time._

_FLASHBACK KAI_

"It's not like I enjoy killing, but I have come to terms with it. We are shinobi and shinobi are killers, that is something all of us have to accept. It's as simple as that." Naruto said reflectively.

"How much blood do you have on your hands already, Naruto?" The jonin needed to know that, because the blond spoke so casually about killing. After all she had witnessed this day, the blond must have taken quite some lives already.

"Far to much." Was Naruto's reply, his sensei could hear the deep sadness in the boy's voice. "If this was everything Kurenai-sensei, I am going to sleep now."

As Naruto was walking towards their hotel, Kurenai thought about the blond boy's words. The view he had on the shinobi life was nothing she had expected from a rookie genin, normally only seasoned chunin or jonin normally spoke like that, it was much truth in his words although.

The next day, early in the morning, Team 8 were back on their way home, moving fast towards Konoha. The tension that was present yesterday, could still be felt in the air, but to a much lesser degree, seemingly everybody had calmed down somewhat over the night. Two uneventful days of traveling later, by nightfall, they had reached the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

* * *

It was the day after their return from the first C-rank of Team 8. Tomorrow would be their day off, so today marked the end of the week for them.

Kurenai had brought her mission report to the Hokage Tower this morning, before heading towards Training Ground Forty-Two. She had planned nothing special for today, a normal six hour training session and one D-rank afterwards, the team needed some calm routine after the events, that had transpired.

Another hour of breaking out of genjutsus had just ended for Naruto, slowly he was getting a hang of it. The most basic illusions were no more problem for him, but as soon as he was trapped in something more serious, he was literally lost. Kurenai was sure she would correct that, after all she was the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha. Even if Naruto couldn't use her prized art, he would be able to break out from almost everything, she would made sure of this.

A black clad ninja materialized out of nowhere in the clearing and broke all four ninja from their current activity. "Uzumaki Naruto, Hokage-sama has requested your presence, immediately." After he had spoken those words, the shinobi vanished as fast as he had appeared.

Naruto grumbled. "The old man probably read your report, sensei." Then he started walking towards Konoha, to meet his demise, his team followed him.

Twenty minutes later, the blond genin entered the Hokage's office, while Kurenai, Hinata and Shino had to wait outside.

"Good day, Hokage-sama. Already read of my newest accomplishments?" It was a bitter joke on Naruto's side. It was bad enough for him to find the right words, to tell his team why he did what he did. But now he had to justify to the village leader, why he had mercilessly slaughtered those bandits.

"This is a serious matter, you killed seven men in cold blood. This isn't like you, Naruto." The Sandaime answered, a frown etched on his face, his smoking pipe in the left hand and the other hand clenched into a fist.

The blond chuckled darkly. "You don't know me, old man, not anymore." Naruto sighed, this wasn't a talk he wanted to have. "The Wave mission and more than two months on the road changed me, hardened me if you want call it that. I will do what is necessary to protect my teammates. Nobody will hurt them." The boy's ice cold gaze met the Hokage's eyes to support his statement.

"I understand." Sarutobi would have liked to know more about this, but he wouldn't get any answers from the boy. Every since he came back, Naruto had a good amount of distrust for the Hokage, the old man had hidden his Uzumaki heritage from him. "There is still another matter at hand, I found out about your living arrangements, care to explain?"

For Naruto the day had gone from bad to worse in seconds. "Who told you that?" He snapped at the aged leader. Had Kurenai broken her promise and betrayed him, after the recent events he couldn't be so sure anymore.

"A patrol of chunin stumbled upon your camp about a week ago, I only got the report after you had left. So why are you living in the woods?" The Hokage elaborated with some anger in his voice.

"My flat was already occupied by someone else, when I came back. First I thought about getting a new one. But it's to hard for me to stay in the village, with the constant hate and prejudge I get. For now I live in the forest, it soothes me. And NO, I don't need your help Hokage-sama, I will deal with my problems alone." Naruto almost spat the last part out, then he turned around and exited the office, leaving a startled Hiruzen Sarutobi behind.

Naruto's teammates and his sensei could see a deep scowl on the boy's face as he came out of the Hokage's office. Whatever he and their leader had discussed didn't improve the boy's mood in the slightest.

The blond stared at those three before him, impassive, tapping his foot on the floor. "Can we get back to training?" You could hear the annoyance as he spoke.

After receiving a nod from his sensei, Naruto started walking towards their training ground, the rest of his team followed shortly behind.

As Team 8 exited the tower they run directly into the waiting Sasuke, Sakura and Kiba. In fact, Naruto almost crashed headfirst into the Uchiha boy. The blond muttered a "Sorry." and wanted to continue his way, not really in the mood to talk to his ex-teammates, after having to deal with the Hokage.

"Whatever dobe, so you really survived. Fortune favors fools, after all." The dark haired boy had a smirk on his lips as he said those words.

The jinchuuriki turned around and glared at the Uchiha. "Teme, shove it!" Then Naruto tried to walk away again, before he felt a jerk on his shoulder.

"You can't speak like that to Sasuke-kun." Almost screeched the pink haired girl, who had grabbed the blond.

"Sakura is right, is that your way to greet your former teammates?" Said the boy with the small white pup on his head.

Before the irritated Naruto could even answer, Sasuke raised his voice again. "Kiba, Sakura, I don't need your help to deal with the dobe. It's not like a no name, like him could lay a finger on me."

By now the blond genin was ready to explode, today's events were not in his favor, that was for sure. "Sasuke, would you like to see my newest jutsu, first hand?" Naruto spoke all to sweetly, but his eyes showed the bubbling anger inside.

The rest of Team 8 could only watch in amazement at the scene that unfolded before them. Was this how the old Team 7 had interacted with each other? Before the scene could get any more out of hand, Kurenai grabbed her blond charge and left immediately, Shino and Hinata following fast behind.

Sasuke, Sakura and Kiba could only stare at the retreating backs of Team 8.

Five seconds later Hatake Kakashi appeared in a swirl of leaves. " Sorry, I am late, but I run into this woman and... Did I miss something?"

* * *

Kurenai had dragged the fuming Naruto all the way to Training Ground Forty-Two, where she dropped him unceremoniously on the torn ground. "Care to explain, why you wanted to 'show' Sasuke Uchiha your explosions?" The jonin asked in a calm, collected voice, that didn't betray the wrath about his actions.

"Hey he started it, always badmouthing me, dattebayo!" Naruto shouted his reply.

"That is still no reason to threaten his life, you can't fight other leaf ninja, even if they agitate you." Was Kurenai's firm response. "Naruto, you can always talk to us, we are your team. So what really troubles you?"

The blond took a deep breath, to calm himself. "With your ultimatum, the old man snooping around in my affairs and then teme's insults, I just lost control, sorry." Naruto answered in a soft, rueful voice, then he shrugged. "Probably it's the best I just get over with the needed talk. If it's OK with you I will try to explain my actions on our last mission, sensei."

Kurenai gave him an encouraging smile. "It's good that you are ready to talk to us, start whenever you feel ready."

"Then you should sit down, this can take awhile." Naruto spoke solemnly. The next half hour the blond explained everything that had happened during his first C-rank mission. Starting with the ambush by the Demon Brothers, his vow to never back down again, the encounter with Zabuza, his first meeting with Haku in the woods and the final conclusion at the bridge.

When Sasuke had scarified his life for him because, he was to weak. How he had the first time used the power of the Kyuubi afterwards, to defeat the hunter nin, which was in fact a disguised Haku. The tragic life story of his enemy and how Haku had rescued Zabuza from Kakashi-sensei's final attack. And at last, also why he had gone missing for two months. Then he stopped.

Naruto's team was almost entranced by his tale, for his first mission outside of Konoha it was really a big, dangerous, even sad adventure.

"Still, I don't understand fully how this leads to your nindo and why you think you have to exterminate all dangers, that could affect your teammates." Was the question Kurenai asked after the whole, lengthy explanation.

Naruto sighed, he had expected as much. "You probably can't understand my motivations." Taking a deep breath, a sad, dull look in his eyes, he continued. "I never had any friends or family, there are probably around five people, who have my full trust. Sasuke and I weren't really close, but he probably could have become my first friend. Seeing him die, because I was unable to do something... Argh." A lone tear dripped down Naruto's face, he clenched his fists hard, drawing small drops of blood. "It was horrible, knowing that it was my fault. As long as I am breathing, I will do everything to prevent something like that from ever happening again!" Naruto shouted the last part out.

That was the moment, the rest of his team ultimately understood. The blond had only a handful of bonds and he was willing to do everything necessary to protect those few people, which were even remotely close to him.

"N-Naruto-k-kun, if you w-want I w-will be your f-friend." Hinata spoke with strong conviction in here voice. She could relate to her crush on some level, she was also kind of lonely while growing up, but still she at least had a family, even if not the most caring. She couldn't really understand how it was to be totally alone in the world.

Like Hinata, Shino could relate a bit to Naruto. Outside of his family most people were disgusted by the Aburame, because of the insects living in their bodies. So he hadn't had any friends outside of his clan. "Hinata is right, I would enjoy to be your friend Naruto, if that is desirable for you. Why you may ask? Because you are my teammate and we should support each other in every way possible."

"Really? You both mean it?" Naruto was astonished, he hadn't expected anything like that. After Hinata nodded shyly and Shino gave him a positive reply, Naruto embraced them both and shouted many times "Thank you." through the clearing. That was until he saw that Hinata had fainted in his arms, by now he didn't go full panic mode after seeing her pass out.

Kurenai could only smile. The rift in her team was dissolved and a strong bond of friendship was forming between those three genin. Probably they were meant for great things, after all you could never knew.

* * *

A/N: Sorry Team 9 with Neji didn't make it into this chapter, you will see them in the next one. Currently I aim to create chapters with four to five thousand words and with the additional encounter it would have been to long for my taste. Next time I will bring Anko in the mix, some time to torture... I mean train Team 8.

I hope me explanation of Naruto's motivations makes sense, furthermore if people think I made it look like Sasuke (or Neo Team 7) bashing, there was always a tension between Sasuke and Naruto, with an already angry Naruto it would unload in a big boom (pun intended). Sasuke has a quite different part than in canon in my story, he won't be a hero nor a villain, more a supportive role in the whole storyline. You won't see him to often, still here and there,but I will tell his life as side-story.

**New Here**: I try to include Deidara as often as possible, but last chapter I didn't find a good spot for him. As soon as the story hits shippuden though, he will get the real major role he deserves.


	6. Chapter 5, Fateful Encounter

**Chapter 5 : Fateful Encounter**

Naruto was feeling great today, yesterday was hard on him, but had turned out really good in the end. First he had his fallout with the Hokage, it wasn't like he really hated the old man. The blond had many good memories involving the aged leader, but after learning, that the Hokage had known about his clan, it made him still quite angry that the old man had hidden that from him. Naruto was sure that his feeling would eventually recede, currently although he just wanted, that Sarutobi didn't meddle with his affairs, simple as that.

After the mess with the Hokage, the blond had just had the luck to almost crash into the stuck up Uchiha teme. In his already agitated state the jinchuuriki had to threaten the black haired boy to give him a first hand experience of his loved explosions, during their argument. Naruto didn't want to kill or even harm Sasuke, but his building up rage needed some vent and the Uchiha was just the one available for that. The blond was glad that Kurenai-sensei had saved the situation though.

In the end it was one of the most memorable days Naruto ever had. After hearing his lengthy explanation, both of his teammates were eager to assure him, that they would be his friends, an offer the blond happily accepted. Shino and Hinata his first two friends, the thought alone gave him a good feeling. It wasn't like he had nobody, there were Deidara, Iruka, Teuchi, Ayame, Konohamaru and even the old man Hokage. Naruto was more or less close to those people, but still he now had friends in his own age group.

Naruto was still a bit sore from yesterday, after their heartfelt declaration of friendship, the three genin of Team Kurenai had only done group training before their sensei dismissed them. Hinata had used him and Shino as pincushions, trying to master the throwing technique, the black haired jonin had shown her. By the end of the day the Hyuuga girl was quite proficient in launching multiple senbon with one flick of her hand.

Today was Team 8 day off, so he could do whatever he wanted, which normally included training, training and tons of ramen. The blond had slept in longer than normal and then he completed his usual morning rituals, by now it was half past nine.

Now he could do some more chakra control exercises, but another few hours trying to complete the first level of the Tower of Stone didn't sound so good. The blond also had this new jutsu he wanted to complete, but that could wait for another day. There was something else on his mind, which needed his immediate attention, he still hadn't found that damned book about sealing.

When he had finally returned to Konoha, three weeks ago, one of his transformed clones had asked the old librarian, if the library had any books about the sealing arts. After a look on the inventory list, the man had assured him that there was indeed one book with the knowledge he sought, but he couldn't tell him where it was located. And none of Naruto's shadow clones was able to locate that thing, now it was time to take the matter into his own hands.

One may ask now why the library in Konoha had only one book about the sealing arts, the answer is really simple. Konoha has in fact two different libraries, the public one for everyone and the shinobi version. The problem now was, the shinobi library could only be used by ninja of at least chunin rank, some of the more important sections required you to be jonin. So the blond was stuck with the civilian version and he was happy, that this one had the book he needed.

Naruto knew, that he probably could get a book about sealing somewhere else, but the librarian had told him, that this one, was written by an extraordinaire seal master and now the blond wanted to have exactly that book and not another one. So his decision for today was easy, he would spend most of his day off in the library, searching for this hidden gem.

About seven hours later Naruto was cursing and fuming. By now he had turned around every book in that damned library, at least two times, if not several times more. He had used five transformed shadow clones to help him with the search, but it hadn't helped at all. If somebody had seen him and his copies, they must have thought that he did something suspicious, searching multiple times through the library, turning around every book.

The blond was leaning against one of the bookshelves in the back of the building, he thought, that in this part of the library, that was less frequented, he probably would have a higher chance to find what he sought for. Repeatedly he slammed his clenched fist against the wooden shelf in anger, until something hit him hard on the head.

"Ouch!" Naruto was rubbing his head and stared at the thing, that had crashed onto his skull. Before him on the floor lay a rectangular black something, he wasn't so sure what it was. The boy's hand grabbed the thing and picked it up, so that he could have a better look at it. A thick layer of dust encased it and Naruto used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe away the grime.

By now he could see, that it was a book, what else should have fallen from a bookshelf? Then the blond read the title, "Sealing, the under-appreciated art, Volume I", that couldn't be right, could it? After reading the title for the fifth time, Naruto finally understood, through dump luck he had found the gem he was seeking for.

"Yeah!" His yell could be heard echoing through the whole library.

Seconds latter the old librarian stood before him, an angry glare on his face. "This is a library, if you do that again, you will be thrown out!"

"I found it, I finally found it, dattebayo!" Nothing could dampen the blond's joyous mood now, not even an angry librarian. The boy had even forgotten, that he was still transformed and his declaration of 'dattebayo' surely sounded strange.

"You have found what?" Asked the impatient old man.

Naruto shoved the book nearly into his face. "The book about sealing, can I lend it out?"

The librarian took the small black, battered book from the boy's hands. After looking at if for a few seconds and reading the first page, he gave it back. "You want to lend out that?" He received an eager nod from the boy, then he continued to speak. "Take it, you're the first one that wanted to have it, since we have it here, it's yours now."

Naruto would have done a dance of joy, but he was sure the librarian would chuck him out on his ear, if he did another loud expression of joy.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later the blond stood before his favorite ramen stand, finding the book needed to be celebrated after all and the old geezer even gave it to him for free. His stomached growled, he hadn't eaten since breakfast and now it was almost time for dinner, so he entered the stand.

"Double my usual, Teuchi." Naruto almost shouted as he took a seat.

The ramen chef eyed the newcomer carefully. "And you are?"

"I'm Naruto, 'ttebayo. Who else?" Was the immediate reply.

"That's not even funny, looked in the mirror recently, boy?" A confused Teuchi answered.

After taking a look on himself, the blond finally understood. He was still transformed into some random nobody. A cloud of smoke later, the stranger was replaced by a blond boy in his usual auburn robe.

As soon as the chef saw his favorite customer he said. "Four miso ramen, coming up!"

Soon the blond was eating his precious ramen, probably devouring would have been the more appropriate description of his table manners.

Another customer entered and seated himself besides Naruto. "One bowl of pork, please." Said the voice of the newcomer, but the blond was to engrossed into his food to even notice him.

When Naruto was finished with his bowls of ramen, he put some money on the counter and wanted to leave, but as his eyes gazed over the other guest besides him, he instantly recognized the man. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei, long time no see."

The one-eyed jonin turned his head and stared at the speaker. A few seconds later he finally spoke. "Naruto, should have suspected you are here too. Although I didn't recognize you without your usual omnipresent orange." He patted the blond on his back, his eyes did their eye-smile thing and gleamed at the boy. "I'm glad you're alive. Was really worried about you. We all thought you died back there, I'm sorry, I wasn't there to save you." Spoke Kakashi regretfully.

"Not your fault sensei, was to reckless back then. The old man told you about my little journey?" The jonin gave him a knowing nod. "Sorry for what happened yesterday, didn't want to go so over the top."

"What do you mean, Naruto, did something happen?" Was the confused reply the boy got.

"My team meet your team, as we left the Hokage Tower and I got into an argument with Sasuke, nearly got out of hand if it weren't for Kurenai-sensei." Said the jinchuuriki with remorse.

Kakashi only laughed, now he finally understood the strange situation he had experienced yesterday. "Hey, I know how you two are, always teasing each other and you always had a bit of a short temper, some things never change." A short pause later the jonin spoke seriously."You know, that if you need something, you can always come to me, I will always be your sensei."

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei, I will remember that." The blond smiled at the jonin. "Sorry, but I have to go, still things to do, you know." After waving goodbye to Teuchi and Kakashi, Naruto left the ramen stand.

* * *

The next day, Shino, Hinata and Naruto were waiting in the clearing of Training Ground Forty-Two, while Kurenai-sensei was already more than twenty-five minutes late.

"Hope Kurenai-sensei didn't catch the chronic lateness disease from Kakashi-sensei. That would be so, troublesome." The blond genin joked, while somewhere else in Konoha a certain lazy Nara had to sneeze hard.

"Do you really believe that Naruto, because I think that such an illness doesn't exist." Spoke Shino Aburame in his usual stoic way.

"Geez, that was a joke Shino, you need to loosen up, man." Naruto shook his head, at the bug-users reply.

Suddenly a large explosion of smoke occurred before the three genin. A purple haired woman stepped out of the white haze and grinned at the Team 8. "Anko Mitarashi, special jonin and interrogation specialist, your new surrogate sensei for today and you three brats are Kurenai-chan's team?" She spoke with an intimidating, loud voice, eying all three ninjas before her carefully.

"You're late! Where the hell is our real sensei and what is a special jonin you don't look so special lady, you know?" Shouted Naruto back at the new arrival.

"You're the Uzumaki loudmouth, I heard about, aren't you? I'm not impressed, I must say." Anko huffed, then spoke up again with some annoyance . "Kurenai is at the academy, they needed a 'real' jonin showing of or something. Told them I could do that, but no, I wouldn't be good influence on the children." The special jonin muttered the last part out.

All three youngsters stared wide eyed at their temporary sensei, Naruto with some barely hidden anger, she had mocked him after all. This strange person was really their teacher for today? This wouldn't end well for them.

"S-S-Sensei, w-what are w-we doing t-today t-then?" Asked a slightly scared Hinata.

"First some survival training, later on I have a special mission for you three." The purple haired woman smiled, but it was more like a dangerous, sadistic smirk.

Naruto groaned. "Really survival exercises? That sucks, 'ttebayo."

Anko laughed. "Yes it will suck, for you three." She bit her thumb and drew some blood, then she slammed her hand onto the ground. "Summoning Jutsu"

A ten meter long brown snake appeared out of nowhere. The special jonin still had the same smirk on her lips as she spoke again. "Now try to survive that, brats." As those words left her mouth the snake rushed forward.

The three genin immediately dispersed, splitting up, to distract the serpent. Not that it helped, the snake was hot on the heels of Naruto, ignoring the other two targets. The brown reptile lunged after the blond boy, only to miss him by a few centimeters.

Naruto believed, he had felt the hot breath of the beast in his neck. "Hinata, Shino I could use some help here! Pleaseee!" Shouted the distraught genin.

"Don't leave the training ground by the way. Or you get another hour with my little scaly friend." Shouted a giggling Anko through the clearing.

The Hyuuga girl stopped her retreat, as soon as she heard her crushes plea. Then she took out a bunch of senbon from one of her pouches and started pelting the serpent with those spiky needles. To her dismay though, the metal spikes couldn't penetrate the scales of the reptile, bounced off harmlessly and only dropped on the soil.

Shino meanwhile had also halted his escape to help Naruto. The bug user directed a swarm of his kikaichu bugs to attack the head of the creature, the most vulnerable target available. As soon as the insects started to assault the eyes of the snake, the beast stopped following Naruto and started to trash in it's current place instead.

The blond, saved from his precarious situation, was now ready for the counterattack. "Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu" Thirteen Naruto's popped into existence, all grinning like madman. "Get that scaled bastard. Let us make some snake sushi." The original shouted.

But before any of the clones could even move forward, they all were destroyed by a rain of shuriken. "Not so fast blondie, who said you can attack my little pet?" The purple haired special jonin stood not even ten meters away, from the jinchuuriki, still smirking. She slammed her hand again against the ground. "Summing Jutsu" Two smaller, blue snakes were now created, about five meters in length. Then Anko jumped on the head of the brown snake and a few small fire blasts later, Shino's insects had to retreat or be burned to crisp.

Two hours later, Team 8 was finished with their survival training, literally. Hinata and Shino were both sitting on the torn ground, breathing hard after running away for so long from the two blue snakes. Naruto meanwhile looked the worse for wear, his robe was full of dirt, had some holes in it and furthermore he had some blood stains on his face. Anko had thought, it would be fun, to throw sharp kunai at the blond, while said boy tried to escape the big serpent's sharp fangs.

"Can we please do the mission now, Crazy Snake-sensei?" A tired Naruto asked, before he too collapsed on the ground.

The special jonin only took a folder out from her trench coat and tossed it at their feet. "This is your mission, if you don't complete it, I will find you and we will have some more quality time together. I think you understand?" Despite their weariness all three genin started to nod frantically. "Ibiki needs me for some funny interrogation work at the T&I headquarter, so I have to leave you alone, behave or else..." Then Anko vanished in a whirl of leaves from their sight, a murderous smile of anticipation graced her lips as she disappeared.

There was one thing Naruto was sure of now, he would sooner suffer one of Deidara's incoherent, unintelligible lectures on art, than another hour with the Crazy Snake Lady.

_FLASHBACK_

_It was the day after he had met Deidara for the first time. Naruto had thought that learning, how to blow up things would be awesome, but oh boy how wrong he was. _

_Deidara told him, that before he would teach him anything, he had to make sure the blond genin understood the true beauty of his art and the principles behind, only then he could become a fellow artist of destruction. _

_Naruto liked explosions, he probably liked them a lot, but he still couldn't really fathom, what the bomber was speaking all about. And what followed were the longest hours in the blond's young life._

_…_

"_Art is an explosion and art is a blast, un. This are the ground rules, but there is so much hidden wisdom in it. Listen well my pupil and you will come to see the light." _

…

"_You have to pour your whole soul into your creations, only then they will reach the peak of true artistic greatness. Otherwise..."_

…

"_Fine art is the beauty of that single fleeting moment of explosion. Your art shall only live for that moment, only in that split second you can experience the true beauty from within, the pureness of life and death."_

…

_During all those hours of explanations, Naruto could only nod dumbly here an there. The genin sighed as Deidara came finally to an end._

"_You didn't understand anything did you, Naruto?" Asked the bomber as he was finished with his speech. _

"_Sorry sensei, I will try harder next time, I promise, dattebayo!" The jinchuuriki pumped his fist into the air to show off his usual enthusiasm. _

_FLASHBACK KAI_

After roughly fifteen minutes of rest, Hinata picked up the mission folder and opened it, What she found surprised her, one paper, with only three lines of writing. She stared at the sheet of paper, contemplating, if this was really a mission file or some sick joke of their surrogate sensei. But it bore the official stamp of the Hokage, so it had to be the real deal.

"Come on Hinata, tell us about the mission, I would like to be done with another of this stupid chores." Whined an impatient Naruto.

"I-I-It's a C-rank, N-N-Naruto-kun." After the girl had said that, both male genin looked startled at her. "I-I-Inspection d-duty and an a-a-address in K-Konoha's merchant d-district. T-T-That i-is all it says." Then she handed the piece of paper to Shino.

The Aburame studied the file for a few seconds. "Highly unusual, why you two may think? Because normally three genin aren't allowed to do C-rank missions without supervision from a higher ranking ninja."

The bug user gave the mission file afterwards to Naruto. The blond intently scanned the document before he raised his voice. "Seems legit. Come on, we should get going, I don't need another hour with the Crazy Snake-sensei." With those words the boy stormed off, followed by his two teammates. All of them were quite eager to avoid another lesson of avoiding to be eaten by giant serpents.

It didn't take them long to find the location of their mission, which was in fact a warehouse. As soon as the had found their target, the three were greeted by a chunin. "Finally you three are here, come inside, the work is already waiting, it's good that they found a replacement team so fast." Then the man led the three rookies into the building.

Team 8 followed the chunin through the warehouse, past rows of boxes, parcels and shelves, till they reached a small office. There he gave every genin a clipboard with a list on it. "You three are new here, so I will explain your duties for today. This building is one of three shipping hubs in Konoha. Everything that is sent into the city will be controlled here for abnormalities."

The man pointed at Hinata. "You will use your Byakugan to scan the new deliveries for anything unusual, like vermin or sabotage." He moved his hand and now gestured towards Shino. "Your bugs should be able to detect most kinds of poison or other harmful contents in our food shipments. And lastly you." He now looked at Naruto. "You have no useful kekkai genkai, so you will just do normal logistic work." The man made a pause. "The clipboards I gave you contain the whereabouts of your work load and other information you need, once you finished with everything, you bring back the lists to me, I will pay you your share and then you can go home."

The next hours, Team 8, spent with busy work in the warehouse, by the end of the day all three were quite exhausted. Due to the long use of her bloodline limit, Hinata was drained of most of her chakra and her eyes were severely strained. Almost the same could be said for Shino, because of his long utilization of the kikaichu bugs, his reserves were quite low now. Naruto on the other hand was just physically winded, from carrying heavy boxes for the better part of the day. At least the payment was much better, than what they normally got for their simple D-rank missions. But one thing was sure for all three, Anko-sensei was some kind of oppressor and had enjoyed their suffering.

* * *

It was a few minutes before the clock would hit 8.00 AM and Team 8 was again in the clearing of Training Ground Forty-Two, that was their usual routine, waiting for the arrival of their sensei.

Naruto's eyes were glued on his new book, his teammates had taken several glances at him already, not really believing, that the Uzumaki would read something on his own free will. Hinata even had used her Byakugan to take a look on the title and the contents of the book and was quite baffled by the topic. The blond boy was really interested in something so complex as the sealing arts?

"Good morning, had a good day yesterday with your surrogate sensei?" Asked Kurenai, as she entered the training ground.

Naruto immediately jumped, glared at the black haired jonin and pointed an accusing finger at her. "You tried to kill us! The Snake Lady is crazy, crazy I say!"

"Anko isn't that bad, you are surely exaggerating." Their sensei tried to feign ignorance, although she knew, that the special jonin could be really strenuous .

"Not that bad? She hunted us down with her snakes for two hours, survival training my ass." It was easy to see how upset the blond was. "At least the mission wasn't halfway bad and we were payed quite well."

Shino and Hinata watched the exchange in silence, they were almost used to Naruto's attitude by now. The Hyuuga girl had to subdue some giggles and even Shino nearly smiled at the blond's antics. The black haired jonin meanwhile thought, she had to have a talk with the Snake summoner how to treat her genin, she needed them alive after all.

"You did good on your second C-rank, normally this kind of work is done by retired shinobi or academy dropouts, but one of the usual teams was unavailable yesterday. Don't expect to do such duties often." Kurenai explained the whole situation to them. "Today we will train for a while with another genin team" All three genin gave their sensei questioning looks. "You wanted some help with your taijutsu Naruto and I got the right person to help you, he is the greatest taijutsu master of Konoha. I have to warn you though, the jonin in question is a bit eccentric."

"So you want to say most of Konoha's jonin, except you sensei, are oddballs?" The blond deadpanned.

As soon as the genin had uttered this words, two green blurs rushed into the clearing. A loud, almost booming voice pierced the silence. "Very youthful of you Lee, you still need to train harder though ,if you want to beat me. But never give up, you're a true genius of hard work!"

Before Team 8 stood two people, both clothed in hideous green spandex. One of them was an adult, while the other one was a kid, about their ago, probably a year or two older, which looked almost like a mini-me version of the man.

"Thank you Gai-sensei." The smaller green clad ninja shouted. "If I can't train harder, I will run one-hundred laps around Konoha on my hands! And if I can't do that I will do ten-thousand push ups. And..."

"That's enough Lee." Then the man turned his attention towards the three genin of Team 8. "I am Maito Gai, Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey and the Eternal Rival of the ever hip and cool Kakashi Hatake. And to my right is my most youthful pupil, Rock Lee." Both of the strange ninja then gave their best nice guy pose.

Naruto, Hinata and even Shino stared at the new arrivals with open mouths, those two were the weirdest thing they had ever seen.

A few seconds later two more people entered the training ground. "Gai-sensei, I told you to wait for us." Called an angry feminine voice.

"Ah, and this are my other two youthful students, Tenten and Neji Hyuuga." The strange jonin said and pointed towards the two newcomers.

As soon as Hinata had heard the name Neji, she averted her gaze towards the ground and took a few steps back, hiding partially behind Shino. A fact that everyone easy registered.

"Hinata-sama." Spoke a cold, arrogant voice.

"N-N-Neji-niisan." Was the meek reply the girl stuttered out.

Before the atmosphere could get any more menacing, the male jonin raised his voice again. "So Kurenai, who of those three requires my help to fan his flames of youth even brighter?"

The blond jinchuuriki slowly raised his hand. "That would be me, I think." He spoke hesitantly. "Some pointers in my taijutsu would be useful."

A few minutes later the group was split up, Lee would be tutored by Kurenai, in an attempt to teach him how to break out of genjutsus. Shino and Neji would spar against each other, Tenten and Hinata would work on their weapon skills and finally Naruto was going to have a private session with the green clad jonin to work on his taijutsu.

Soon Naruto found himself standing on the edge of the clearing with Gai. The blond didn't know what to make of the man, Kurenai-sensei had said he was the best taijutsu master in Konoha but he was probably the most eccentric person Naruto had met until now.

"Kurenai had told me, what are you looking for." The jonin took three scrolls out from his flak jacket. "Each one contains a kata for a technique to grab and immobilize your enemies, those are just basics, you should be able to easy integrate them into your current forms. Furthermore they can be extended through more complex maneuvers. For the next three hours, I will supervise you in their use, afterwards you can keep the scrolls and train on your own. Now lets start our youthful exercise!"

The next hours were quite hard on the blond. Hundreds of repetitions per kata and almost every time the jonin had corrected him on some small nuance in his stance or the execution of the technique. The man was a master of taijutsu, that was clear by now for Naruto. Also Gai had criticized Naruto's whole taijutsu stance, because it was nothing more than a brawling style. But the boy didn't want to become a specialist in melee combat and was quite happy with his improvised style, so the jonin's complaints fell on deaf ears. Naruto could be quite stubborn if he intended to.

At the end of their joint training session the two team bade each other farewell. While Team 8 watched the others leave, Neji raised his ice cold voice. "Hinata-sama, you are even weaker than I presumed. Trying to steer away from the traditional Hyuuga teachings will accomplish nothing, fate has already decreed, that you are a nothing but a pathetic failure. You can't change what you are, no matter how hard you fight it. Even your clouded eyes, should be able to see this truth."

Naruto got worked up more, by every word the Hyuuga spoke. The blond started to grit his teeth and at the end of the speech, he was ready to jump this bastard and punch him hard in the face. This was the moment, when the jinchuuriki felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and and angry blue eyes met sad lavender ones and he could see the tears building up in Hinata's eyes.. She shook her head, gesturing that the girl didn't want, that Naruto started a fight, because of her.

"Neji, that was really unyouthful of you." Gai chided the Hyuuga. "I told you not to bring up anything like that while we were here. I don't care about the problems you have with the main branch, but your behavior won't go unpunished this time."

The boy didn't even turn around during the whole ordeal and continued his way, walking away from the training grounds, followed by his team and an angry sensei.

As soon as Team 9 had vanished from their sight, Hinata turned around and run away as fast as she could, some tears falling down from her face. Before anyone else of her team could react, the girl had already disappeared from their view, into the woods surrounding Training Ground Forty-Two.

Kurenai made a move to follow the distraught girl, but Naruto raised his hand and started speaking. "Sensei, I think, I probably can help Hinata better than you. I have known for almost as long as I can remember, how it is to be treated like a worthless failure, so let me speak to her, please." Then the blond left wordlessly, trying to track down his female teammate.

The black haired jonin and Shino could only stare at the retreating back of the blond jinchuuriki and both hoped, that everything would turn out alright. Hinata hadn't deserved the uncalled words from her family member.

* * *

Naruto was glad, that Kurenai had shown him the basic of tracking. In her hurried flight, Hinata had left a good trail for him, one that the blond could easily follow.

A few minutes later, the boy spotted Hinata. She was on her knees, weeping and sobbing, hands over her face, frantically trying to wipe away the tears. In fact, she looked like a mess, seeing her like this hurt the boy, nobody deserved being in such a sorry state. Slowly he approached her. As soon as he was in reach, he pulled her into a comforting hug, trying to ease her pain and suffering.

First the girl was rigid like a board in his arms, but soon she relaxed and grabbed his robe, clinging hard onto him. Then she started sobbing even louder, than before, burring her face into his chest.

"It's going to be OK, Neji is wrong, you know?" Naruto tried his best to soothe the worries of the girl in his arms.

It was only as he spoke, that Hinata finally recognized, which person was helping here. Under normal circumstances she would have fainted, or be embarrassed to death about the state, in which Naruto was seeing her, but she was far beyond that point by now. She just wanted to enjoy the warm, comforting embrace, something she had missed, since the death of her mother, so long ago.

Meanwhile Naruto wasn't so sure anymore, if he was the right person to help Hinata. He probably understood the pain she was in, but it wasn't like he had any experience in how to ease the worries of someone. The blond's social abilities were severely lacking sometimes, like in this moment. He decide to go with, what he would have liked to hear, when he was in a similar distraught state. "Don't let those dark thoughts cloud your mind, Hinata. Your much stronger than that."

"B-B-But h-he w-w-was r-r-right. I'm j-just p-p-pathetic a-a-and everybody k-k-knows it, I'm j-j-just a b-b-burden t-to e-everyone." It was the first time, that Naruto got an reply from the girl, just not the one he wanted to hear.

"Don't you dare to think such bullshit. You are strong, you are better than Shino or I at taijutsu, you are really good with those senbon needles of yours and our team needs you. So don't you dare to believe any of the crap, this bastard had spewed out." Naruto spoke much louder, than he had intended.

Hinata flinched at the blond's outburst, then she asked. "W-W-Why a-a-are y-you h-helping m-me, I'm n-not w-w-worth y-your time N-N-N-Naruto-k-kun."

The jinchuuriki patted her back. "You are my friend, my teammate, I will always help you, I will always believe in you, dattebayo! And don't forget Kurenai-sensei and Shino, I am sure they feel the same way, we are there for you, that is what friends are for, isn't it? "

The heartfelt speech of the jinchuuriki had visibly calmed down the bluenette. She had stopped crying and had loosened her grab on the blond. But now Hinata realized in which position she was, her face immediately turned a crimson red and then she fainted promptly in the boy's arms.

Feeling the girl go limb, Naruto looked down. Only to see her puffy red eyes closed and a small smile on her face. Now he was reassured, that everything would turn out right, eventually.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for the many reviews again, I hope this chapter more or less gave answers to most questions my readers had. It took up the 'attack' against Sasuke, Naruto's motivation for this act should now be more clear.

Now I want to make a two clarifications for this story.

First of all, I will try to not create any OC characters, the Narutoverse already has quite some people that can be used in stories, so I will use the ones that are available. You will see characters like the ship captain, the one I had in the prologue chapter, every now and then, but those people will stay unnamed, they have no real impact on the story and are just machinations that are needed for the story.

Secondly, I have read many, many stories (surely a few hundred) on fanfiction until now, my aim for this piece of work is to be uncommon.

People now could argue, that I used one of the most (over) used pairings, but why not? I like NaruHina, those two have many possibilities to work with, it's a quite flexible pairing in my opinion. The only other Naruto pairing option I enjoy to read is Tayuya, but I'm not really comfortable writing her and not sure if it would work with what I planed for this story.

So back to topic, I have special plans for Sasuke, Neji, Hiashi and some other characters. I can't say that my plans are unique, because almost everything that can be done, has be done already in one or another fic, still I promise it will not be the usual you will see, the more the story progresses. I won't spoil to much of the wild ideas in my head, so the only thing I say is something for the Dei fan under my readers.

Currently I am thinking to give Deidara a love interest mid shippuden, I think he deserves some love too. The only clue I can give you is that it's nobody from Konoha, Iwa or Akatsuki.


	7. Chapter 6, The Real World

**Chapter 6: The Real World**

Naruto had propped the Hyuuga girl's unconscious body against one of the surrounding trees and waited now, that she would wake up. First the blond had contemplated, if he should bring the passed out bluenette back to the rest of Team 8, but in the end he decided it was better to wait till she would wake up. It wouldn't hurt to give his female teammate some time to deal with the whole situation, which that one bastard had created. The jinchuuriki gritted his teeth as he remembered, what had happened not so long ago.

This was the second time, since he had returned, that he was certainly ready to pound someone to a bloody pulp. Naruto knew, he was easy to agitate, even before he had his little adventure trip with Deidara. But nowadays, the blond was ready to give everyone a piece of his mind, and if this would include some beating up, why not? He shook his head, that couldn't be right, or could it?

The months away under Dei's tutelage, had given the demon host some new perspectives on life, but had the days away from his birthplace, also unleashed some of his hidden anger? Naruto wasn't stupid, okay probably he was a bit foolish sometimes. But he knew, that the years of shunning and rejection from the village had instilled some dark feelings in him, but who wouldn't be affected by such injustice? The further confinement, which came with his return to Konoha, probably had this effects on him and his temper.

The blond was glad that Hinata had stopped him, before things would have gone out of hand. Still, that prick Neji deserved some beating, somebody had to remove the lamp post from the stuck up bastard's ass.

A groan brought Naruto out of his musings. The blond looked over to the now stirring form of his female teammate.

Hinata's eyes fluttered open and she took in her surroundings. After seeing Naruto leaning against one of the trees, the memories of what had happened came back to her. The girl knew, that Neji had some major problems with her, but still she hadn't expected he would tell her off so harsh, while in the presence of his and her team. She wasn't happy with how she reacted to his insult, but it had brought so many bad memories back. Of times, when her father or the clan elders had told her how weak and useless she was. Or when her little sister had beaten her, she could see the disappointment in her fathers eyes and how Hanabi thought, that she was a waste of her time. The recollection of those horrible events depressed the Hyuuga girl greatly.

"Glad that you are awake again, feeling better? Or do you want some more time to compose yourself before we go back?" Naruto asked with concern in his voice.

The girl only nodded her head and pulled herself up from the ground, then both started walking to the training ground in a slow steady pace.

The blond was the first, who broke the silence on their way back. "The stuck up bastard isn't really your big brother?"

She could hear the annoyance in Naruto's voice as he spoke about Neji. "M-My c-cousin." The Hyuuga replied, almost like a whisper . "T-There are s-some c-conflicts between us..."

The blond put a hand no her shoulder, Hinata flinched a bit at the sudden contact..

"You don't need to tell me anything about those issues, Hinata. Just remember Shino, Kurenai-sensei and I are there for you, if you need us." Then he flashed her one of his trademark smiles, which made the poor girl flush a light shade of pink. "Thanks for stopping me by the way, my anger got the better of me. Would have done something, I would later regret, probably making him a piece of my art."

"Your art..?" Replied a quite confused Hinata, she didn't know what the boy was talking about now.

"Nothing..." The blond was a bit stressed out, unknowingly he had talked like Deidara. How much had his little trip really affected him? Although as long as he wasn't starting to give lessons for hours about the beauty of his explosions, all hope wasn't lost.

After the strange, abrupt ending of their conversation, both genin continued their track back in silence.

When the blond and the bluenette reached Training Ground Forty-Two, Shino and Kurenai were already waiting anxiously for them. Like Naruto, both assured her, that Neji was wrong about her. To all three she was a valuable comrade, a friend, an important person, no matter what anybody else thought. A small smile formed on the Hyuuga girl's face, the worries of Team 8 were blown away as they saw this, at least for now.

Later on her way back home, Hinata was deep in thoughts. The words of recognition she got from Naruto, Kurenai and Shino had soothed her. She had friends, a team and they needed her, she couldn't afford to be weak now. She had to be strong, if not for herself, then at least for them, they counted on her, they believed in her. She wouldn't disappoint those people, who trusted her with their lives. This day Hinata vowed to herself, that she would make her friends, her sensei, her team proud, she would prove her family, her father, her cousin wrong.

* * *

The next training day everything was more or less back to normal. Kurenai looked at her students, who were sitting before her in on of the craters of the training ground. Her team had completed their usual routine and normally now they would do missions afterwards, but today the woman had other plans for them. She wanted to intensify their training, instead of spending a few hours with weeding gardens or chasing cats. Currently the jonin wasn't so sure, if her team would compete at the chunin exams, however that didn't mean, she would take training them easy.

The black haired woman had planned something special for everyone of them. She took out a small scroll and unrolled it, then she unsealed a small lunch, a bunch of rice balls and canteens of water, for her team. "Today there won't be any missions, instead we will extend your training by another three hours. I brought you some food, after we all have eaten everyone of you will get some special attention from me." When she had finished her speech, the woman gave her team a reassuring smile.

After everyone had eaten, Kurenai created two shadow clones to supervise her charges separately. She and her two copies split up the team, each jonin led one of the genin to another part of the training ground, so that each group could work undisturbed from the others.

With Naruto:

"Naruto, I have seen what you were reading yesterday morning, so you started delving into the sealing arts, any special reason for that?" The female had a tiny hint of curiosity in her voice, she hadn't expected that somebody like the blond would be interested in one of the most difficult ninja styles available.

"You're right sensei, I started learning fuinjutsu a few days ago. In fact there are two reasons for my choice. First of all, it's part of my heritage as Uzumaki, I could at least try to honor my ancestors by learning it. Secondly I thought it would be a good idea, if I could make my own explosive tags, giving me some more destructive power." At the end of his explanation the blond grinned at his teacher, the idea of having even more explosions available exited the boy greatly.

The Hokage had briefed Kurenai about the Uzumaki Clan and she had expected that answer from her genin. However the thought, that the blond could have tons of explosive tags at his hands started to worry her, he was already dangerous enough for her taste. Not that she could stop him anyways, the boy would learn sealing with or without her help, she was sure of it. "As you know I am a genjutsu master, my experience with fuinjutsu is quite limited. However I still can help you with your studies." The black haired woman explained to Naruto.

"Really sensei? So what are we going to do?" The boy was bouncing with energy by now, he was always happy to learn something, that would help him with his jutsus.

Kurenai gave him a devious smirk. "Oh, I doubt you will like this exercise." She pulled out a blank scroll, an inkwell and a brush from one of her pouches. "Your handwriting is terrible, simple as that, Naruto. So today you will do some basic calligraphy practice." Then she handed over the items to the boy. "You can keep those utensils at the end of the lesson."

The blond could only groan. He had already read in his book, that for making seals, he would need a steady and clean handwriting, otherwise the seals would blow up in his face. But he hadn't planned on starting to address this weakness, till he was completely through the whole manual. It couldn't be helped now and so he began writing kanji under the watchful eye of his sensei.

With Hinata:

"The progress you have shown with senbon is astonishing. Watching the last training sessions with your teammates, you were able to hit them with relative ease. So today I will be your opponent, don't hold back against me, give it your all, Hinata." Announced the black haired jonin, then she vanished from the girls view.

The Hyuuga girl opened her leg pouch, it was stuffed to the brim with iron needles. She slipped into something that vaguely resembled her Juken stance, activated the Byakugan and equipped herself with three senbon per hand, a metal spike always between two fingers. With the needles sticking out between her knuckles, her hands almost looked like claws.

Kurenai knew what the girl was doing and she was ready as the onslaught began. She wasn't a jonin for nothing and so it wasn't to hard for her to avoid the projectiles.

Meanwhile Hinata launched attack after attack on her sensei. Throwing three senbon at once, switching to the other hand, taking out new ammunition, rinse and repeat. With fluid movements the girl continuously renewed her assaults, it could have looked almost beautiful to an onlooker, if it wasn't so deadly. However a sudden attack stopped the girl in her tracks.

CLANG!

She could deflected the thrown kunai with the senbon in her left hand and the weapon fell harmlessly to the ground, but the Hyuuga hadn't expected this counterattack from her sensei.

"You can't be so stationary Hinata, you need to be on the move too sometimes!" Was the advice Kurenai gave her student. "That is one of your current weaknesses, I will show you several more."

As if on cue, the black haired jonin suddenly appeared before the girl and swung her right arm in an straight forward attack. Hinata avoided the strike with a quick sidestep and then trusted both her senbon filled hands forward in a stabbing motion. Although the only thing she hit was thin air, her sensei had already vanished again and was nowhere to be seen.

"Good, even when you try to stay away from your enemies, you always have to be prepared for close combat attacks." Were the words of praise Hinata could hear from Kurenai.

Her adversary was fast, the Hyuuga girl had a hard time to follow the movements of the jonin and hadn't scored a single hit in the whole conflict. After launching another attack at the fast moving target, Hinata tried to grab three more needles, but there weren't any left. Had she already used up all two hundred senbon, that were in her pouch?

"Already out of ammunition? What are you going to do now?" Slightly mocked the black haired jonin her student.

The Hyuuga girl sighed, this was going to be a long, tiring training day.

With Shino:

"I have decided that you will be the one of my genin, who will learn how to wield genjutsu. You are the most suited for this fine art of all three, Shino. Furthermore you need to broaden your arsenal, currently you mostly rely on your clan jutsus." Kurenai spoke with absolute conviction in her voice.

"Thank you sensei, why? Because you consider me worthy enough to learn your most prized art from you. But are you sure, that I am the correct choice?" Asked the Aburame with some hidden worry in his voice.

The jonin had long thought about who of her team would learn how to use genjutsu from her. All of them were able to discover and free themselves of illusion, she had made sure of that.

Naruto was out of question, she was happy that the blond was finally able to dispel illusions, but he probably would never be able to cast any of them. First she had favored Hinata, the girl had the necessary chakra control to use genjutsu, but since the Hyuuga heiress had discovered her love for senbon, the jonin didn't want to to distract her attention towards another subject. In the end Kurenai had decided she would teach Shino, the boy was smart and his control over chakra was good enough. "Yes you will learn genjutsu from me, I am sure you will make me proud, don't doubt yourself."

The brown haired genin bowed slightly before his sensei, afterwards he spoke. "Then we should begin, there is much to learn for me, I am sure of that."

"You already know the basics of genjutsu, but I will give you a quick reminder. Illusionary Techniques affect the enemies senses and generate something you could call hallucinations. The more senses are targeted, the harder it gets to reveal the illusion." Kurenai made a small pause to let the said sink in. "There are two different ways to cast a genjutsu onto someone. Either by affecting the person through one of his senses, the most common ways are vision or hearing, or through forcing your chakra directly into your victims body, for example by a simple touch."

"Then with which method do we start, sensei?" Asked Shino in his usual monotone voice.

The jonin thought her student could be a bit more enthusiastic, but that was Shino after all, she wouldn't call him overly emotional. "With the easiest way. You will lay your hands on my head and force a small amount of you chakra into me. Try to concentrate on my vision, I will give you continuous responses how are you doing and you can adapt your tries accordingly. This first steps are needed, so that you get the right idea and feeling, how you must mold the chakra to have certain effects on your target's mind. No need to worry, you can't hurt the real me, this body is only a shadow clone." After Kurenai had said that, the Aburame started with his exercise.

* * *

Three days later, Team 8 was engaged in a three on one sparing match. Shino was surrounded by a swarm of kikaichu, Hinata and five of Naruto's shadow clones were in close quarter combat with their sensei and the real blond meanwhile watched the whole onslaught from the sidelines, supporting the melee attack team through kunai and shuriken.

Everybody came to a halt as a lone figure entered the training ground. "Kurenai-san, your team is required for an urgent mission." Spoke the winded, black haired chunin, then he handed a scroll over to the jonin-sensei. "Hokage-sama requested, that you and your genin head out as soon as possible." After he had relayed the orders, the man left the clearing.

Kurenai took a quick look at the scrolls contents, before she started speaking with a commanding voice. "Gather everything you need for a short term mission outside of the village, although pack lightly. We meet in thirty minutes at the main gates."

After they had received the quick instructions from their leader, Naruto, Shino and Hinata left Training Ground Forty-Two in a hurry. Trying to get their necessities ready in the short time limit, they had been given.

The blond jinchuuriki was the first one, that arrived at the main exit of Konoha. His encampment wasn't that far away from their usual training ground, so it didn't take him that long to get ready for the oncoming mission.

The rest of his comrades and his sensei showed up within the next several minutes. All three genin had only a lightly filled backpack and a bedroll with them, minimal package like Kurenai had requested.

The black haired jonin made a simple hand gesture, then she headed out, her three students followed in a standard triangle formation. It wasn't hard for the genin team to understand what her sensei had signaled, the basic sign language used by Konoha nin was already drilled into them during their academy years.

"So sensei, what is this emergency mission all about?" Asked a curious Naruto, while he and his team were hopping from tree to tree.

Kurenai didn't even turn her head around and started speaking. "We have to apprehend three fugitive Konoha citizen, alive if possible. Those three have embezzled almost a million ryo from Konoha's official accounts over the last months."

"Is such a mission not normally assigned to an ANBU hunter nin squad?" Replied the baffled blond genin.

Before Kurenai could answer the Aburame boy raised his voice. "I think you are mistaken here, Naruto. Because sensei only said fugitive citizen not ninja, therefore a squad of genin should be sufficient. Hokage-sama surely wouldn't waste ANBU on a trivial task, like capturing criminal civilians."

"Excellent perception Shino." Praised the jonin her subordinate. "Although those three have a bit of a ninja training. In fact you three probably know them. Our targets are the members of the former Team 4, which graduated in the same class as you. They dropped out of the shinobi program, after they failed the real genin test and were afterwards employed in one of the administrative offices of Konoha."

"C-can you t-tell us t-their n-names, Kurenai-sensei?" Was the question from Hinata.

"Ami, Kasumi and Fuki, remember them?" Replied Kurenai almost instantly.

Every genin of Team 8 could recall those three females, after all they were an infamous group of school bullies. Naruto, Hinata and Shino were always sort of outsiders during the academy and so all of them had had some unpleasant encounters with those girls.

The black haired jonin could almost feel the sour mood radiating of her team, after she mentioned the names of their targets. "Hinata activate your Byakugan periodically and scan the surroundings for them, Shino spread out your kikaichu and let them look for any traces, the same goes for you Naruto, I want ten of your shadow clones to survey the area." Through the mission file Kurenai knew the general direction in which the three criminals were traveling, they had a day head start, but that wouldn't matter against trained ninja.

"Hai, sensei." Replied the three genin in unison and started with their assigned tasks.

About four hours of search later, Naruto stopped the group. "One of my clones has found them, afterwards he dispelled. They are about one kilometer to the northwest, resting in the open."

"Lead the way then." Replied Team 8 jonin-sensei. "You three will surround them and capture the targets on your own. No lethal force, if not necessary. This goes double for you, mister short-fuse, I am sure you remember our last talk. We don't need another of your messy explosions."

The blond genin knew his teacher was right, but still he couldn't stop the scowl, that formed on his face. Particularly because he didn't like the nickname she had given him.

It didn't take the team long to arrive on the location Naruto had found and clearly there in the clearing sat the three wanted females. Now was the time to catch the fugitives.

Kurenai directed her genin through hand signs to their respective positions.

The three ninja moved in cover of the trees. They were anxious and waited for their sensei to give the signal to start.

As soon as the received the go, Naruto, Shino and Hinata rushed in. From the Aburame's sleeves countless of bugs rose into the air, forming a wall of insects. Meanwhile the blond jinchuuriki conjured twelve solid copies, which then created a blockade.

The three criminal girls shrieked and were frozen as the attack began. They thought they were safe here, a major mistake from them. On two sides there was no escape for them, the path was either blocked by a swarm of bugs or a wall of Naruto's which all had kunai in their hands. The only chance for escape was through the battle ready Hyuuga girl.

"Come on, Fuki, Kasumi, we can take the weak, pale-eyed freak." Ami tried to sound strong and threatening, but her voice shook slightly. The girl pulled out a kunai and stormed at Hinata, her conspirators followed suit.

The Hyuuga girl ducked below a sloppy swipe with the kunai. In a smooth motion, she closed several tenketsu on Ami's arm and the weapon in the girl's hand dropped to the ground.

The purple haired attacker took several steps back and her accomplices stopped their advance. Her whole right arm was now hanging uselessly in the air. Ami glared at the lavender-eyed girl before her and rushed forward again, this time trying to strike with her good left arm.

Hinata easily danced around this attack and only tapped her adversary lightly on the right knee as she avoided the blow. In response to the counter, Ami crashed head first into the dirt and stayed down.

Meanwhile Naruto and Shino had bound the hands of the other two girls, who could only stare in shock, how effortlessly their leader was defeated by Hinata. Neither of the two put up any resistance to their capture.

The Hyuuga girl still stood in her Juken stance, watchfully observing the downed form of Ami. She wouldn't move on meter away till also the last enemy was safely captured.

The blond jinchuuriki approached the duo and knelt down beside the fallen girl. He just wanted to start slipping the rope around the right arm of Ami, as the female shifted slightly, a kunai in her left hand.

Hinata had seen, that the purple haired girl, had landed on the kunai, she dropped during her first attack. But the female genin had not expected this last desperate move. As soon as she spotted the attack on her teammate, the Hyuuga girl rushed forward. With full force she crashed her juken empowered palm against the chest of Ami.

The body of the hit female skidded several meters back. A damp gurgling sound could be heard and blood-red foam spewed out from Ami's mouth, afterwards she started to convulse, but stopped a few seconds later and then only silence.

Hinata could only stare at the limp form, that lay a few steps before her, motionless on the ground. With the Byakugan still activated, the Hyuuga could almost clearly see, what had happened due to her vicious attack. Parts of Ami's lungs and hearth had liquified, the girl died in a matter of seconds, nobody could have survived that. The bluenette was frozen in shock, this probably was the first time she wished she would faint, but today the gods didn't have mercy with her.

Fuki and Kasumi meanwhile had collapsed unconscious on the ground, after seeing the gruesome death of her friend. Shino watched over the two fallen bodies without nearly any hint of emotion on his face, if you looked good enough although, you could see the worry it hid.

Naruto was flabbergast, not because he had to see the death struggle, he was hardened enough to stomach this. The jinchuuriki just hadn't expected, that Hinata would go for a killing blow, but he presumed she did it probably out of pure instinct.

Kurenai entered the clearing and tossed a storage scroll to her blond genin. "Naruto, Shino secure the prisoners and set up a camp somewhere in the surroundings, but far enough away from here." Then she dragged the stock-still Hinata away from the scene of event.

* * *

Hours later, the night had already fallen, Naruto was sitting by the campfire, thinking about the recent turn of events. He had volunteered to take the first night watch. The blond wasn't so sure if somehow the whole mess wasn't his fault, he was to careless again. But another part of him knew, that such things regularly happen on missions.

It was a pitch-black new moon night and the woods were hulled in eerie silence. The blond suspected the rest of his team and the captives were asleep, without the light of the fire he wouldn't even see the hand in front of his face. A sudden noise startled the boy and he gripped the kunai in his hand firmly.

"I-It's j-just m-me, N-Nar-uto-k-kun. I c-c-can't s-s-sleep." The sound of the Hyuuga girl's voice was barely above a whisper.

"You can sit by the fire with me, if you want." The jinchuuriki replied in a pensive tone. The boy didn't know, how he should talk to Hinata about what had happened with Ami and for now he decided, he would wait, if the girl started talking.

And so for almost an hour both teens sat around the campfire in silence. Finally the bluenette raised her voice. "H-H-How d-do y-you d-d-o it?"

"How do I do what?" Naruto tried his hardest not to sound irritated, but the question sounded fairly strange to him and the waiting till the heiress was ready to talk to him hadn't helped his mood.

"Y-You l-looked so c-calm, back then w-when y-you k-killed. A-and I j-just f-feel so g-g-guilty, I c-can st-still see h-her f-f-face." Hinata sounded almost broken now.

Naruto nearly had to grin at her question, he had asked Deidara something similar.

_FLASHBACK_

_It was a few days after Naruto had taken the lives of the bounty hunters. He and the bomber had just set up a camp for the night and were now eating some of their rations._

"_Deidara-sensei, I want it to go away, the guilt, the images, the nightmares. How do you deal with it? I want to feel nothing at all. I know it was necessary, so why does it trouble me so much?" The blond genin begged for an answer. _

_The missing nin's face took on a strange expression, his eyes got a far away look and he stared off into empty space. "You learn to deal with it, un. I know this sounds stupid, you get somewhat used to it, you will be able to deal with eventually, but it takes time." The reply sounded almost sagely. "There is one thing although, hope that you will always feel regret and guilt about your actions. Even though we ninjas are killers, we are still also humans, pray that you never loose those emotions." _

_FLASHBACK KAI_

"The feelings never go away, Hinata. You just learn how to deal with them." Naruto took a deep breath. "I had nightmares for more than a week after my first kill. Even now, sometimes the faces of my victims pop up in my head." The blond moved closer to the Hyuuga girl and put his hand on her shoulder. "Eventually you will be able to handle it, but remember as long as you feel something while you kill, you are still a human being." Then he reassuringly squeezed her shoulder. "Kurenai-sensei probably told you something similar, but this is an experience, which you have to overcome alone, nobody can help you with it. Now you should go back to sleep, you will need it tomorrow."

Shino stepped out of the shadows and scared both of his teammates. "You should also go to sleep Naruto,why you may ask? Because it's my turn of the night watch now."

The blond and the bluenette raised from the ground and bade Shino a good night, afterwards they went to sleep.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the delay, wasn't in the right mood to write for almost a week. The next chapter should be the last before the story hits the chunin exams (probably the written part will be covered next time), expect some differences during the forest of blood... ah no it was death, surely the forest of death.

As said once before, after the exams the story will start to diverge even more from canon, some events probably still will happen similar to canon, but with different outcomes. Don't wait for Talk no Jutsu, I probably won't do any. Bad guys are bad, they choose their way, the best you will get is maybe a redemption in/through death. This doesn't mean I will make them one dimensional villains, just that they will have to pay for their crimes, one way or another.

The major plot points till shippuden are more or less set in stone, there won't be a major time skip, probably though some minors during the different chapters, the story will regularly progress otherwise.

** New Here:** Won't promise that I won't do it, nor that I will surely do it, currently it's a 50/50 chance. It just came up as idea while I was doing major points of the mid/late shippuden plot in my mind. It wouldn't be a big point of the plot, just a sideline addition, to give the story a bit more depth.


End file.
